The Struggle To Recover - New Orleans After Katrina

The New orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors bureau has its work cut out trying to convince the world that post-Katrina New orleans is the fabulous vacation place it was before the catastrophic events of 2005. In an attempt to revive the city's fortunes, the agency has received almost $9 million in federal funds and will be responsible for re-branding the city and persuading visitors to return to re-vamped, renewed New orleans.

Ironically, the traditional tourist areas in the French Quarter (and especially Bourbon Street) were relatively unscathed by the storm, as it was the outer lying areas and neighbourhoods of the city that suffered the most damage. Even so, many people have been put off visiting New orleans because of the negative perception given by the news coverage in the aftermath of Katrina, according to Kelly Schulz, VP of communications and public relations at the Visitors bureau. As a result the city has invested in a new campaign named 'Forever New Orleans', which is designed to stress the Big Easy's 'resilience, unwavering spirit and culture'. "The one thing that Katrina didn't wash away was our culture and the experience and emotional connection people have with this city," says Schulz.

35 percent of New Orleans' operating budget is generated by tourism and hospitality, amounting to $5 billion in a good pre-Katrina year, so the campaign's success is critical to the city's economy. In 2004, the city attracted almost ten million visitors and employed 85,000 workers in the tourism sector. Post-Katrina the city has struggled to get anywhere near those figures, with only 3.7 million visiting during 2006. That creates a huge hole in the city's finances and many New orleans residents wonder just how the city will recover, if ever.

However, things may be looking up if this year's Mardi-Gras is any indicator. Pre-Katrina visitor figures for the festival topped the one million mark and this year's were estimated at 800,000 - up 100,000 on 2006's figures. The event is crucial to the city's finances as it generates as much as $20.5 million in tax revenues alone. On the downside, although visitors are returning for one-offs such as Mardi-Gras, in general hotels in New Orleans are running at a dismal 35 per cent occupancy.

So, although the restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels in New Orleans' tourist area may be open for business, many of their proprietors are wondering if the visitors will ever return in the numbers seen before the disaster that was hurricane Katrina. Only time, and perhaps an aggressive marketing campaign by the New orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors bureau, will tell.

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Marketing: The Internet Has Become A Gold Mine For All Marketing Firms

If the world of infrastructure is a block of granite, marketing is a fluid running through its small chasms. Marketing is a force like gas, a prevalent and very active thing that is difficult to pin down and observe. It is one of the abstracted forms arising from a post-modern way of life, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

It makes sense that marketing in its never-ending search for new forms has branched onto the web. The internet and the screen of the personal computer are lucrative fields for new advertising campaigns. Much of consumer activity has moved onto the web, and so marketing is keeping up with trends by moving its own strategies to a web-based format.

The most familiar ways that marketing firms do this is by the use of devices such as ad banners or pop ups that bring ad copy directly into the view of the user. These are time-tested marketing strategies that work: users click through on ad banners and generate revenue for the creators, improving the status of the company or product. There are also the 'cookies' that companies hide in a user's hard drive. Devices such as cookies provide critical data about a consumer; they allow marketing individuals to create campaigns based on established facts, and they allow researchers to track the web activities of consumers.

Besides these marketing tools, software makers have given marketers different programs to better their commerce. Some of these are available online for a firm eager to improve its web image. one such program is the VIPCART: this package allows marketers to create a 'shopping cart' that shoppers use online to collect product which they can purchase with their credit cards. Though online shopping is hazardous due to credit fraud, many people still shop online.

Marketers can also make use of a package entitled SEO DETECTIVE that lets users compare data on different web sites to get a picture of who is running a particular online industry. The best web sites generate the best sales, and tabulation software such as the detective programs allow individuals to concretely assess who has the best web sites.

Then there are a host of other programs dealing with innovations like keyword-driven sales that also analyze web response from consumers. All of these tools try to direct customers to a product by reacting to feedback through the transparent channels of the web. Keyword-driven sales is one way to get the attention of clients, and in-depth work with search engines can benefit a company's prominence greatly.

By and large, conventional marketing will not go away, but the web will become a bigger and bigger arena for marketing in the future as marketers try to get the most out of online sales.

Robert Michael is a writer for FAA Marketing which is an excellent place to find marketing links, resources and articles. For more information go to: http://www.faamarketing.com

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Home Water Purifier - Reasons Why You Need A Home Water Purifier For Your Health

Most people believe that just because they live in a developed country with higher standards of living, the water they drink is healthy for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Little do most people realize it, but the tap water you consume, without a home water purifier, is very harmful for your health.

In investigations done in nearly every city in the Untied States, tap water was found to be contaminated with chemicals for which regulations have never been set. Often times, the biggest sources of contamination are agriculture and pollution.

In fact, in a survey done in 42 different states, 260 difference chemicals were found inside; 141 of which no regulations have been set by the EDA. If you are drinking regular tap water, you are letting all those harmful chemicals and bacteria into your immune system. And this problem is only getting worse as time goes on-heres why.

The pollution levels today are at an all time high. Much of this pollution makes its way into our tap water. Worse yet, most water treatment centers make little effort to these harmful substances out of the water, making tap water dangerous to drink. Remember, there are many different contaminants in the water for which regulations have never been set.

Not only are there many unregulated chemicals that seep into tap water, but facilities are actually required to further contaminate the water by placing fluoride inside. Now, there are certainly people on both sides of this important issue. However, when you consider the facts, fluoride cannot be a good thing.

Think about it: people have lived for thousands of years from natural water, without fluoride and the other harmful substances that are now entering our water systems. If our bodies really need fluoride to survive, how did people survive for all this time with fluoride free water?

Many people make the argument that fluoride is necessary for your teeth, and that without this your teeth will fall out and decay. Again, how did people survive for thousand of years without their teeth falling out minus the so called benefit of fluoride?

The reason is that they ate healthier foods. Now, Im not going to get into a whole discussion on health foods and which are best to for your health. There is plenty written on that subject elsewhere. Just realize that fluoride and other unnatural tooth treatment today have all stemmed from a lack of basic healthy eating habits with the ever increasing amounts of junk food.

Therefore, instead of focusing on the root cause of the problem (lack of healthy eating habits) water authorities have merely tired to put a bandage on the problem by placing fluoride in the water. While this may in fact prevent your teeth from decaying for a time, it is not the long term answer.

The bottom line: if you arent utilizing a home water purifier for your house, your health will suffer. Do your search, and purchase a filter that is right for you and at the right price. Dont delay-your health is in the balance.

To learn about drinking purifier water and how it can benefit your health, try visiting http://www.water-purifier-reviews.com. This site reviews each faucet water purifier and rates them.

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