New Orleans City Councilwoman Kristin Palmer, with the support of Mayor LaToya Cantrell, is advocating the ending of a 1985 agreement under which part of the New Orleans Transit Authority's hotel tax revenues - about $6M this year - is used to fund the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, the Morial Convention Center, and the City's own tourism department.

Ms. Palmer wants these tax revenues instead to be used to fund expansion of bus routes, including those available to hospitality workers.

Mayor Cantrell would like to see more of the hotel tax revenue going toward water and sewer improvements, public safety and other general municipal services upon which the city depends to remain an attractive destination for tourists. She has expressed her firm resolve to settle the hotel-tax issue before the LA Legislature meets in April.

In 2017, nearly 18M visitors to New Orleans spent $8.7B, with steady growth since 2009.