'Follow Your Joy' to New Orleans for the Holidays

New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC) launches its 30th Annual Christmas New Orleans Style campaign to national, regional and internet audience

New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, (NOTMC) and French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) announce four new additions to its seasonal Christmas New Orleans Style celebration.  

“New Orleans always has something magical about it, but especially at Christmas," said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “Music, unique Reveillon dinners, and holiday traditions give families an opportunity over six full weeks to learn and experience the season while enjoying moderate temperatures." 

The 2014 Christmas New Orleans Style experience features four new additions this holiday season. Luna Fete, which runs through the first week in December, will see iconic Gallier Hall become the canvas for a brilliant display of art and light. Reveillon on the rocks will debut over 45 specialty holiday cocktails, and NOLA Christmas Fest will take families inside the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to experience a holiday adventure. NOTMC is also launching 'New Orleans City Store', an e-commerce portal that will sell officially branded New Orleans merchandise, just in time for gift-giving.

“Plan your trip ahead by using followyourjoy.com,” said Marci Schramm, Executive Director of French Quarter Festivals, Inc. “While in town, be sure to pick up a free ‘Christmas New Orleans Style’ guidebook from a concierge or Visitors Center. The guidebook is the only place to find everything there is to experience, eat, drink – and have fun – during the holidays in New Orleans!”

A fifteen-second 'Follow your Joy' TV spot features the voice of actor and New Orleanian John Goodman, along with a soundtrack by the New Birth Brass Band. Iconic New Orleans scenes include historic architecture, attractions throughout the city, holiday food, and seasonal events.'

The spot is airing in 13 regional television markets that include Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and the Monroe LA/El Dorado, AR market; Houston, and Dallas, TX; Memphis, TN; Montgomery, and the Mobile, AL/Pensacola, FL market, Jackson, Columbus/Tupelo, and Gulfport/Biloxi, MS. 

Programming highlights include prime time shows such as 'The Voice,' morning news and late night TV, as well as high-profile sporting events such as Thanksgiving Day NFL football, the 41st Bayou Classic, and holiday specials 'Shrek the Halls' and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.

"New Orleans will welcome visitors and locals all over the city this season,” said Mark Romig, President and CEO of NOTMC. “From NOLA Christmas Fest, to Celebration in the Oaks at City Park, to historic French Quarter caroling and old-fashioned Christmas performances with the Victory Belles at the National WWII Museum, the city will burst at the seams with beautiful lights, the songs of the season, and satisfying holiday food and drink.”

The spot is viewable online at GoNOLA TV found on YouTube. The website, FollowYourJoy.com, showcases 'Christmas New Orleans Style' events listing concerts, Christmas shopping, Reveillon dinners, and Papa Noel hotel rates. Additionally, visitors and locals are invited to share personal holiday scenes on Instagram by tagging photos with #FollowYourJoy.

To learn more about Christmas New Orleans Style, and to view the 2014 CNOS guide book listing all scheduled events, visit FollowYourJoy.com or FQFI.org. Hotel reservations, including special citywide rates, can be booked via direct links to hotels on FollowYourJoy.com.

For a schedule of events or more information on Christmas New Orleans Style, call (504) 522-5730 or visit www.FollowYourJoy.com.
  

Drive traffic to your restaurant this December!

Louisiana Restaurant Association members invited to participate in the annual Christmas, New Orleans Style campaign

The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp. (NOTMC) and French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) are busily planning the annual December celebration, Christmas, New Orleans Style and they are seeking restaurants to participate in the Reveillon program.

What is Reveillon? Derived from the French word for 'awakening,' reveillon originally was a meal served after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Early New Orleans was almost entirely Catholic, and virtually the entire community would participate in these ceremonies. Families would return from the late-night service famished and set upon a feast prepared in advance and laid out on the table or sideboard.

A typical early reveillon menu looked very much like breakfast, with egg dishes, breads and puddings, but could also include turtle soup, oysters and grillades of veal. Naturally, the Creoles accompanied these rich repasts with wines, cordials and other fortified drinks. The dinners could last for many hours, and by some accounts even until dawn.

In the 1990s, however, the reveillon tradition was 'reawakened' and transformed. The organization French Quarter Festivals Inc., interested in attracting travelers to New Orleans during the perennial holiday season lull in convention bookings, approached local restaurants with an idea to offer and promote special holiday menus. Restaurants eagerly embraced the idea and soon so did their local regulars and out of town visitors.

Reveillon has grown considerably during the past several years, with nearly 50 restaurants participating, and Reveillon menus have become one of the most popular attributes of the holiday season in New Orleans. It’s easy and fun to participate and by doing so, restaurants will get the benefit of additional marketing exposure for their restaurant during the campaign promotion period of October through December.

Here’s how the NOTMC and the FQFI promote Reveillon and Christmas, New Orleans Style, and where your restaurant will be listed if you participate:

• Listings on multiple websites (including www.neworleansonline.com and www.fqfi.org) which receive more than 650,000 visits per month.
• Monthly e-mail newsletters and updates sent by the NOTMC to more than 350,000 subscribers nationwide
• Nationally distributed printed brochure, plus television and online marketing to support the overall campaign
• Nationally distributed 2013 calendar shared with tourist centers, media and travel trade, and guests who are in town during the month of December

To learn more or to sign up now, simply go to: http://holiday.neworleansonline.com/welcome and select the Reveillon Listing Form link. Participation guidelines are directly available on the site.

The application deadline is Tuesday, August 20, 2013. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications with Reveillon menu on or before August 20 to be reviewed by the Reveillon Committee Board. Submissions received after August 20, may cause a restaurant to lose their listing within the brochures. There is a fee to participate.

If you have any questions about the Christmas, New Orleans Style Reveillon program, please contact Georgia Rhody at Georgia@fqfi.org or call (50) 227-3127.