Tourism, Violence, and Resilience: One Year Later

What held true, what evolved, and what now defines destination leadership

By John Deveney, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, IABC Fellow

A year ago, I examined the tragic and recurring intersection of tourism and violence, and the existential threat it poses to places whose economies, identities, and emotional resonance depend on travel. By all accounts, 2025 was a tough year. Time has only reinforced that premise. Violence remains a defining stress test for destinations worldwide. Fortunately, resilience has met every tragedy with discipline, humanity, and resolve.
This update reflects on what my original analysis got right, what required refinement, and what has since been proven through action, offering clearer lessons for leaders navigating recovery in an increasingly complex and dynamic global environment.

What the Original Analysis Got Right and Why It Matters More Now

1. Perception Is the Battlefield and It Can Be Managed

Violence threatens more than physical safety; it reshapes perception. That insight was repeatedly validated in 2025. In New Orleans, following the New Years Day terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, disciplined and immediate communication exemplified how proactive messaging can manage perception and reassure travelers, reinforcing the importance of specific, targeted responses.

Reassurance must be tangible to be credible.

Vancouver’s response to the Lapu-Lapu Festival tragedy reinforced the same lesson. Swift acknowledgment, empathy, and coordination foster a sense of shared humanity, preventing silence from becoming a narrative vacuum and ensuring the destination’s broader identity remains intact.

Lesson reinforced:

Trust is rebuilt through transparency, detail, and repetition, not slogans.

2. Leadership Experience Outperforms Messaging Alone

My January 2025 post argued that destinations recover faster when led by people who have “been here before,” demonstrating that experienced leadership directly enhances crisis resilience. That argument has proven unequivocally true.
New Orleans’ deep leadership bench—shaped by Katrina, Rita, the BP Oil Spill, Ida, civil unrest, and public health crises—once again demonstrated institutional muscle memory. New Orleans & Company remained focused on inspiring travel and supporting the economic, social, and community well-being of New Orleans and its people.
Under the steady leadership of Walt Leger, Kelly Schulz, and Mary Beth Romig, New Orleans & Company demonstrated calmness, decisiveness, and empathy, exemplifying modern destination stewardship: calm under pressure, unified in voice, and grounded in both data and empathy, inspiring trust among visitors, industry peers, and officials.
Equally important was what didn’t happen: no contradiction, no panic signaling, and no politicization of grief, which maintained stability and focus during the crisis.

Lesson reinforced:

In crisis recovery, composure is not a soft skill, it is a strategic asset.

3. Tourism Heals Economically and Emotionally

My January 2025 post asserted that tourism is not a distraction from tragedy, but a pathway through it. The past year has proven that argument. Since the New Year’s Day attack, New Orleans has not retreated, it has performed.

Super Bowl LIX generated $1.25 billion in total economic activity statewide, more than doubling the impact of the 2013 Super Bowl and ranking as the second most financially impactful Super Bowl of all time.
Mardi Gras 2025 exceeded pre-pandemic hotel occupancy levels, reaffirming the city’s unmatched ability to convene joy at scale.
Major sporting events, including UFC 318, which sold out the Smoothie King Center and set the venue’s all-time gate record, reinforced New Orleans’ position as a premier global event city.

These moments did not erase grief, but they restored jobs, reaffirmed continuity, and reminded residents and visitors alike that the city remains alive, welcoming, and capable.

Lesson reinforced:

Recovery accelerates when destinations invite the world back—with confidence and care.

Where the Original Analysis Required Refinement

Violence Is No Longer Episodic, It Is a Persistent Risk Environment

My original framing treated violent events largely as shocks to be absorbed and overcome. That underestimated the structural shift now underway.

Today’s reality is defined by:

More frequent crises
Faster, harsher news cycles
Media understaffed, disrespected, and under siege
Social amplification that distorts nuance

Recovery is no longer a phase. It is a permanent capability that requires preparation and ongoing strategic resilience, reassuring destination leaders, and industry professionals that preparedness is continuous and purposeful.

Lesson reinforced:

Preparedness must be continuous, not situational.

2. Safety Messaging Alone Cannot Sustain Recovery

While safety communication is essential, it does not inspire travel. What sustains recovery is the reassertion of why a place matters.
New Orleans’ designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Music, alongside its recognition as one of the most culturally rich cities in the United States, reframed the global narrative. These distinctions did more than reassure, they reminded the world of what New Orleans delivers that nowhere else can.

Lesson reinforced:
Recovery messaging must balance assurance with aspiration.

Additional Insights
One, Unified Voice Is Non-Negotiable
Destinations that allow fragmented commentary, especially in the first 72 hours, cede control of the narrative. The disciplined alignment among civic, tourism, and economic leaders in New Orleans illustrates how unity accelerates trust restoration.
In my January 2025 post, I highlighted the importance of consistent, positive messaging from Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.) which is focused on economic development for the 10 parishes found in Southeast Louisiana, and New Orleans & Company to build trust and pride. I praised the leaders and forecasted (correctly) the effectiveness of these tactics. While the organizations’ specific messaging naturally shifted to their respective focus areas throughout the year following the New Year’s Day crisis, the consistency, positive tone, and use of meaningful specifics help reinforce confidence in our collective progress.
Consistent communication kept stakeholders engaged and confident in our ongoing efforts. Every Sunday in 2025, you could count on an uplifting update from GNO, Inc’s President & CEO Michael Hecht with news such as:

The past 12 months marked the largest year of capital investment and job creation in the state’s history, with more than $61 billion in announced investment and over 9,300 new direct jobs statewide, with an estimated average salary of $91,000, roughly $30,000 above the state average.
New research from the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center has identified the New Orleans–Metairie Metro as #14 amongst America’s Top 20 Entrepreneurial Growth MSAs, ranking it among leading innovation hubs.
In 2025, New Orleans recorded one of its safest years in modern history, marked by the fewest murders in half a century (nearly 60% decrease in murders from 2022 to 2025) and the lowest number of shootings ever documented.
Louisiana closed 2025 with a rare national distinction, earning Business Facilities’ “Platinum Deal of the Year” for the second consecutive year, becoming the first state in the U.S. to achieve back-to-back top honors.

Context Determines Impact

Travelers distinguish between:

Targeted acts and random violence
Isolated incidents and systemic patterns
Attacks on venues and attacks on identity

Recovery strategies must reflect those distinctions. Preparedness, training, strategy, and execution must be nuanced and powered by emotional intelligence.

A Quintessentially New Orleans Response: Culture as Collective Healing

The most powerful demonstration of what destinations must do to recover from violence came not through a metric but through culture.

Second Line in the Sky was a temporary memorial and lighting installation honoring the lives lost on January 1. Suspended across the 100–300 blocks of Bourbon Street, nearly 1,000 hand-crafted prayer flags and illuminated Second Line–inspired elements form a glowing canopy overhead, and invited visitors to pause, look upward, and remember.

Developed in close partnership with families and survivors, the installation transformed grief into light. It did not distract the eye from tragedy, nor did it allow tragedy to define the place. Instead, it did what New Orleans has always done best: it transformed loss through ritual, artistry, and shared humanity.

Conceptualized by Katy Casbarian, a native New Orleanian and steward of the historic, family-owned Arnaud’s Restaurant, the memorial reflected generational leadership rooted in hospitality, continuity, and care.

Second Line in the Sky embodied the very principles my analysis calls essential:

It balanced safety with soul
It replaced silence with intentional storytelling
It affirmed culture as a destination’s strongest defense
It demonstrated emotional intelligence in action

Most importantly, it proved this central truth:

Destinations do not recover from violence by pretending nothing happened. They recover by acknowledging loss, reaffirming identity, and inviting the world to witness both.

New Orleans did not just remember.

It led.

Lessons Now Proven (Not Theoretical)

Speed with substance beats speed alone
Specifics outperform assurances
Culture is a destination’s strongest defense
Experience compounds, crisis competence grows over time
Tourism leadership must be both operational and emotional

Looking Ahead: Measured Optimism

Crises will not become less frequent, but destinations are becoming smarter, faster, and more human in their response.
New Orleans & Company’s 2025 results – expanded transportation access through the return of Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service, milestone cultural programming like NOLAxNOLA, culinary recognition in the MICHELIN Guide, and a forward-looking Vision 2035 roadmap – demonstrate what resilience looks like when paired with ambition.

Resilience is no longer reactive. It is strategic.

For destinations willing to invest in preparation, training, unity, and truth, violence does not get the final word. Travel endures because people seek connection, culture, and meaning. And destinations that protect those truths, especially in their most challenging moments, do more than recover.

They lead.

And they thrive.