French Market nearly empty as New Orleans' tourist economy continues to suffer

NEW ORLEANS — In his 31 years as a vendor at the French Market, Oscar Donahue learned how to pitch customers, but customers and vendors are hard to find right now. 

“Normally there are about 130 to 150 vendors that come out here.  For most of July, the average has been about a dozen, maybe 20 at the most, so it is dramatically different,” Donahue said. 

Before the pandemic, the French Market attracted countless tourists.  But since it reopened in July, Donahue says the foot traffic has dried up. 

“Since New Orleans is totally dependent on tourists, the one thing that we need here, we’re not getting, so it’s really making it a challenge,” Donahue said.  

The empty spaces here at the French Market in a way tell the story of Louisiana.  An estimated 464,000 people are out of work, that’s about 25 percent of the state’s labor force.  Economists say New Orleans’ heavy reliance on tourism will deepen the pandemic’s hit on the city’s economy.  It is reshaping sectors like the local hotel market. 

“What we’ve seen change is that there’s a much shorter window between booking and stay.  In fact, over a third of those bookings happen the same day,” said Jerry Reyes, the general manager at the Westin New Orleans. 

During an economic summit hosted by NOLA.com, Reyes said they are seeing more visitors driving in instead of flying.  The head of the Port of New Orleans said cruises will be changing too. 

“What we are hearing from our partners is what is going to be attractive is short itineraries, domestic, and not very exotic itineraries for people to be comfortable.  That bodes very well for New Orleans,” said Brandy Christian, President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans.  

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What would bode well for the city would be to see more tourists.  We met three women on Thursday who were visiting from Ohio.  Wearing face masks and walking through the stark French Market, they said they were a bit disappointed the true New Orleans experience is missing.   

“It definitely feels lacking a bit, like I’m missing out on the other half of it, but eventually it’ll be back the way it’s supposed to be and I’m excited to come see that,” Elizabeth Halusek said. 

When they come back, hopefully Oscar Donahue will have more company at the French Market.