Dive Brief:
- A 1,000-room hotel operated by Omni Hotels & Resorts could soon anchor the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center after the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority approved two resolutions “critical” to moving the project forward, Omni announced.
- The authority accepted a formal letter of intent from Omni to own and operate the headquarters hotel and also approved a purchase and sale agreement for a site across the street from the convention center, where the hotel is proposed. Omni has vowed to invest $500 million in the hospitality project.
- The hotel is positioned to not only cater to meetings and events activity already happening in the Louisiana city but also to attract new business demand, according to Omni and local travel professionals.
Dive Insight:
Pending further negotiations with the authority that are set to take place through the remainder of the year, design and construction on the Omni hotel could be underway as soon as 2025, with an expected opening in 2028 or 2029, the hotel operator shared in a release.
The hotel will increase the “destination appeal” of New Orleans, a market where major events have previously “passed on” because the city “lacks a modern, upscale headquarters hotel adjacent to the Convention Center,” Omni said.
According to Michael Sawaya, president and CEO of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the authority’s approval brings the convention center “one step closer to attracting the trade shows, conventions and events that only an adjacent headquarters hotel can.”
Walter Leger III, president and CEO of New Orleans & Company, the official destination sales and marketing organization for the New Orleans tourism industry, echoed Sawaya, saying the project will make the market “an even more competitive destination for meetings and conventions.”
“[I]t’s critical that we develop new product offerings to remain competitive, especially when cities such as Las Vegas, Dallas, Nashville, Austin, Orlando and others are making significant investments in new hotels, convention centers and major tourist attractions,” Leger said in a statement.
New Orleans outpaced Nashville, Chicago and Tampa for overall performance growth in the group, corporate negotiated, global distribution system and events segments in the first quarter of 2024, according to Knowland and Amadeus’ Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index. The Louisiana city, though, did not make the list of the top 15 U.S. group markets, which was led by Las Vegas and included New York, Atlanta and Orlando.
Earlier this month, Cvent named Orlando as the top meetings destination in North America out of 50 markets, followed by Las Vegas, Nashville, Dallas and San Diego in the top five. New Orleans came in at number 16 on the list.
The planned Omni hotel will not only drive more events and people to the city, Sawaya said, but it will also bring more jobs to the market, generate new demand for rooms at other hotels in the area and spur spending at local restaurants and businesses.
The hotel is expected to support approximately 1,100 permanent jobs and generate roughly $282 million annually for the local economy, according to Omni.
Other major hotel projects underway in the market include Caesars New Orleans, featuring a Nobu hotel and restaurant, and a Fairmont Hotels & Resorts property slated to open in the central business district in 2025.
In March, Omni Hotels & Resorts properties were affected by a cyberattack that resulted in a nationwide shutdown of the company’s systems.
