One of the top reasons people head to the Big Easy is to celebrate Mardi Gras, and travel to New Orleans over the past several years has surged. The number of people heading to the Louisiana city doubled from 2014 to 2018.
In 2014, 9.5 million people visited the Big Easy. The number stayed relatively steady until 2017, when the tourism number skyrocketed to 17.7 million, according to the New Orleans Area Visitor Profile. That number increased once more, ballooning in 2018 to 18.5 million.
The flood of tourists also brought more money to New Orleans, ushering $6.8 billion to the Big Easy in 2014. By 2018, that number skyrocketed to $9.1 billion.
