It’s Party Time in New Orleans!

This year, Mardi Gras falls on March 8, the first time it has arrived in March in eight years and one day shy of the latest day it can possibly be.

I’ve never been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras but I have been to the Crescent City, the last time soon after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on this beautiful destination. Meeting with tourism leaders and seeing the scale of devastation was sobering and I was glad to be able to report at the time that Collette had pledged to donate all profits from the 2006 and 2007 departures of its New Orleans Getaway tour (sold in USA only) and the Soul of the America’s South tour to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Collette sent 100 tours a year to New Orleans and Collette was the first major tour operator to bring a group back to New Orleans, a destination that we have been visiting for more than three decades.

If you’ve never been to New Orleans or haven’t been in a while, make this the year that you do it! This city is so fun, the people so friendly, and the food and music scene are just fabulous. Collette now visits New Orleans on its America’s Music Cities tour featuring Memphis and Nashville, in addtion to NOLA. It’s a winning travel trifecta. And if you can get away quick, you can save $100 per couple on the April 24, 2011 departure of this tour!

Let’s hope the typically warmer weather of March will coax a record number of revelers to NOLA’s Mardi Gras this year. A return to pre-Katrina tourism numbers would be the best salve for a city that has had a rough five years to say the least. And it couldn’t happen to a better city!

Is New Orleans on your travel wish list? What other U.S. cities are you hoping to visit this year or next?

---

posted by Melissa McKee

Collette Vacations

Tags: Collette, Collette Foundation, Collette Vacations, Mardi Gras, New Orleans

•