Nine out of Ten Travelers Won´t Visit New Orleans in 2007, Poll Says

A majority of American travelers believe it´s worth visiting New Orleans to help the city´s recovery, but 90 percent say they have no plans to visit the downtrodden city during the next year.

According to a Web survey of 2,000 travelers conducted by TripAdvisor.com, 24 percent “strongly” agree with the statement that it´s worth visiting the city to aid its recovery and another 38 percent “somewhat” agree. But when asked if they plan to visit New Orleans during the next year, only 10 percent said “yes.”

Nearly half of the survey respondents, or 46 percent, said they are no more or less likely to visit New Orleans than they were before Katrina, but only 6.6 percent said they were more likely to go. About 47 percent said they were less likely to visit because of Katrina.

The survey also showed that a clear majority, or nearly 63 percent, either strongly or somewhat agree that “New Orleans is on its way to recovering, but is not there yet.”

When asked if New Orleans is “irreparably damaged and will never be the same,” 38 percent agreed, 27 percent had no opinion and 35 percent disagreed.

Survey participants were also asked about their attitudes toward travel to tropical destinations during the hurricane season.

When asked “what would most inspire you” to plan a Caribbean trip during the hurricane season, one-third said “nothing could persuade me,” but 57 percent said they would go if there were “incredible savings” on transportation.

The survey was conducted August 28 and 29 among 2,000 travelers, fewer than 6 percent of whom have visited New Orleans during the last year.