Some pubs in New Orleans have replaced the festive Mardi Gras flags hanging on their businesses at this time of year.
Beaux Church, director of Café Lafitte in Exile, Good Friends Bar and Rawhide 2010, said the white flags indicate that the businesses have surrendered to the nationwide action during New Orleans’ most famous celebration.
“We bought all our food and drink … and we had the carpet pulled out at the last minute below us,” Church said. “All the bar owners would have been much better off with at least two weeks notice.”
Mayor LaToya Cantrell said on February 5 that all bars in the city would be closed for five days – from the Friday before Mardi Gras to the Fat Tuesday itself, which falls on February 16 this year. Liquor sales are not allowed in the French Quarter, not even in liquor stores, and drinks are prohibited during the five days. Parades and large gatherings are already banned, and masks and social distances are needed.
Officials hope to avoid a repeat of Mardi Gras 2020, which attracted more than a million people to New Orleans to celebrate Carnival, and unknowingly contributed to the outbreak and caused hospitals in the city to reach capacity.
This means that the city’s tourism – dependent economy – consisting of restaurants, bars, small shops and hotels already hit hard by the pandemic – will have little to look forward to this carnival season.
Cantrell said the restrictions are “essential” and would prevent the deadly virus from spreading.
“I know everything we know now this year to keep my people safe and save lives,” she said. “I would rather be accused of doing too much than too little.”
According to New Orleans & Company, which promotes tourism in the city, New Orleans is currently losing up to $ 130 million in visitor spending per week due to Covid-19.
“New Orleans has a reputation and brand that surpasses real size … and what we are seeing is the devastation of most of our economy,” said Stephen Perry, CEO and president of the agency.
Before the coronavirus crisis, tourism and hospitality were one of the top industries in the city and state. In 2019, Louisiana attracted nearly 53 million visitors who spent about $ 18 billion, according to a report by DK Shifflet, a consumer travel research firm.
In the same year, New Orleans welcomed approximately 19 million tourists who spent $ 10 billion.
Cantrell’s decision to expand restrictions during such a busy and lucrative time followed major rallies in Bourbon Street and in other parts of the city in the days leading up to the holiday weekend, which Cantrell called ‘unacceptable’.
Church said safety measures were essential, but added that businesses and staff were dependent on the festivity for a rise in sales in a difficult time for many people in the city.
“We brought many of our employees back for the holidays in the hope that we could earn enough income to retain some of them for a while,” Church said. “We’re a close group, and it’s sad when you have to let so many people go.”
Like Church, business owners and businesses in the city have struggled for nearly a year, with fewer hours and divergent regulations, leaving many people doubting whether their businesses can survive the pandemic. The latest restrictions are another blow to a tourism and hospitality industry struggling to get by.
Without the usual Mardi Gras festivals, many businesses will miss an expected increase in profits, said Markus Schuckert, professor and director of the Hospitality Research Center at the University of New Orleans.
Usually, hotel occupancy during the Mardi Gras season is at least 90 percent. However, according to the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association, the average occupancy rate for 2021 is about 20 percent.
“Mardi Gras is a mega-event held by locals for residents and tourists,” Schuckert said. “It involves the whole city and creates a huge impact in terms of revenue because there are so many people who come here to spend money.”
New Orleans councilor Kristin Gisleson Palmer, in whose area the French Quarter exists, said her district is the biggest driver of the city’s earnings and the area worst hit since the pandemic.
“It simply came to our notice then. … I’m afraid that bars and restaurants in the area will close, and I hear from owners that every little bit of income helps, and they rely on [Mardi Gras]”Palmer said.
Shelly Oechsner Waguespack, president of Pat O’Brien’s, a French neighborhood bar, said she was disappointed with the city’s latest squeeze and was struggling with the idea of closing in the middle of Carnival.
According to Waguespack, the bar’s earnings fell by 75 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. She also had to lay off about 170 staff members and currently has only about 30 people working.
“This is our New Orleans weekend, and the fact that we can’t celebrate takes away a lot of our being,” Waguespack said. “People do not realize it, but for us Mardi Gras is much more than beads in the streets. It’s a whole culture.”