GET DAILY REPORT FREE
Baton Rouge welcomed 9 million visitors in 2024—up from 8.8 million in 2023—who collectively spent $1.7 billion.
That’s according to Visit Baton Rouge’s newly released 2024 Impact Report, a data-driven look at the local tourism industry’s performance last year.
According to the tourism agency, the average visitor spent $180 per trip, with the retail sector alone capturing 39.6% of visitor dollars. About $7.1 million in local occupancy tax revenue was collected, and the local tourism industry supported some 38,500 jobs.
The Capital City’s top five visitor origin markets were New Orleans, Houston, Lafayette, Dallas and Slidell. Hotels had an average weekend occupancy of 64.6%, an average overall occupancy of 56% and an average daily rate of $109.40. Saturday was the most popular day to visit.
Among the standout successes of 2024 was the debut of Louisiana Lights, a month-long holiday event at the Burden Museum & Gardens off Essen Lane. Drawing nearly 40,000 visitors from six countries, 45 states and all 64 parishes in its first year, the event is expected to become a cornerstone of Visit Baton Rouge’s strategy to drive end-of-year visitor traffic.
In its report, the tourism agency also highlights the $4.8 million economic impact of the local film industry and the $49.2 million generated from the more than 300 meetings, conventions and sporting events that Baton Rouge hosted last year.
Of particular note on the sporting side was the trio of sold-out performances by the Savannah Bananas at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium last March. The three-night event marked the Savannah Bananas’ first-ever games in a major collegiate stadium and had a $1.2 million economic impact.
In a statement, Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Jill Kidder expressed her satisfaction with recent gains but emphasized the importance of continued investment to sustaining growth.
“The impact of tourism in our city is continuing to grow, but we must prioritize major development throughout our community to continue to achieve this impact,” Kidder writes. “VBR is working with the mayor-president, all five of our municipalities and key partners on the expansion and new development of convention facilities and sports/event venues.”
There may be some relief on the way when it comes to the development of convention space, as officials have outlined a plan to reposition the Raising Cane’s River Center as a convention center and construct a complementary headquarters hotel. Attorney Charles Landry told Business Report in August that Baton Rouge is one of the largest cities in the country to lack a full-fledged convention center.
