Rotarians praised for Experience Louisiana Festival

Celeste Gomez, executive director of St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission, recognized the Eunice Rotary Club for it’s Experience Louisiana Festival held for the first time in 2015.
“It was such a neat event,” Gomez said. “Everything was great. You got rave reviews on the event and we are just so proud, because you really did. You stoked the fire that is always burning in Eunice — we know we can, we know we can. You revitalized that enthusiasm. The festival proved Eunice still has a role to play in the area of tourism.
“With the economy the way it is, that’s what happened in the ‘80s. We took a good analysis of what we had to offer and tourism was one of those things. Even today it still holds true, that tourism is a vital industry for the City of Eunice. We want to make sure you continue with this and wish you the best of luck.”
Gomez said she and the tourism commission were impressed with the festival’s latest presentation to the commission, and that the commission is looking forward to the second festival this fall.
“Its a good thing,” she said. “I think the whole setting at LSU Eunice was such a great opportunity for locals to get out there. Many said it was the first time they had been to the campus. It’s a great asset that we have here and it should be utilized. That was a great partnership with LSUE. We want to thank our partners at LSUE for allowing that to happen.”
Gomez spoke to the club on May 25.
In addition to highlighting happenings at LSUE, Gomez pointed out how events like graduation and night time baseball games at the school draw in visitors and overnight guests to St. Landry Parish.
Gomez said the Crawfish Etouffee Cook-off and Mardi Gras are also visitor-attracting events in the city, and once people attend such events, they are likely to come back to other events in the area during the year.
“There is a trickle down effect to your other organizations and your businesses, she said. “Tourism is a positive industry.”
Gomez continued, “We saw a 7 percent increase in hotel-motel occupancy in 2015. We think that is attributed to the hard work of you and our other partners in hosting events. October was a strong month for the hotel-motel occupancy tax. That was a great thing for us.”
Revenue from the parish’s hotel-motel occupancy tax is invested back into the community through grants to various organizations, and grant recipients are featured in the commission’s ongoing publications. The Experience Louisiana Festival received a grant last year, and funds were also used to market this year’s Mardi Gras festivities.
“It’s a good investment,” Gomez added.
The commission just started handing out its newest brochure on the parish, and the publication features an event calendar, recipes, the history of the parish and its towns, a map and lists for towns including antiques and shopping, attractions, eating and drinking and accommodations. The commission printed 20,000 brochures this year, and the piece is mailed to other festivals in the state and sent to those who request information about the parish. The brochure is also printed in French.
Rotary member and commission member Kelly Pitre is featured on the cover.
“Kelly comes from within the industry,” Gomez said. “She is very involved with all forms of tourism. We are glad to have her on board, and she represents your organization very well.”
Spring is also a busy time of the year for advertising for the commission.
“In 2015, we placed over 122 print and digital ads in national and intention publications, touching all types of media outlets,” Gomez said. “Online is a good way to go. Our circulation through the publications reaches over 32 million people — they see and know about St. Landry Parish. Our budget may not be the biggest, but we do the best we can with our dollars. With the Internet, it’s endless the number of people you can reach, both nationally and internationally.”
Gomez said the commission works closely with politicians, including Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and state Rep. Phillip Devillier to make sure they keep tourism on the front burner. Gomez said she is also working with Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot to sign the city up on a website that features francophone communities from here to Canada and New Brunswick.
“Our mission is to make sure things are in a positive light and that we capitalize on what’s good about Eunice and St. Landry Parish,” she said. “We work hard for Eunice.’