Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall in southern Louisiana during August and September 2005, respectively. Prior to these storms swamp tours were a popular nature-based tourism experience that entertained visitors while teaching them about local flora, fauna, and culture. The number of swamp tour businesses in the state was slowly increasing. The purpose of this study was to determine how many swamp tours were operating after the hurricanes, what type of damage they sustained, and how they repaired their businesses. Differences between those tours that remained open after the hurricanes and those that closed were also examined. A 3-phase mail survey was used to collect data throughout the winter and spring 2006 with a response rate of 74%. Respondents included 22 open businesses and nine closed businesses, seven of which planned to re-open eventually. The most common damages reported were loss of telephone service and damage to the swamp. Fewer tourists were also a problem for swamp tours, as 72% reported business was much lower than before the storms. Significantly more swamp tour businesses that had been operating for more than 15 years remained open after the storms than those businesses operating for less than 15 years. Swamp tour businesses in Louisiana were primarily family owned and employed fewer than five people. The majority of swamp tour owners believed their businesses were important to both the state tourism industry and the local economy of their area. This study also found that a new type of tour, the New Orleans disaster tour, was offered by four businesses that conduct swamp tours. A follow up survey after a period of one or more years is suggested to determine if the number of fully operational swamp tour businesses in the state has increased and detect any changes in the number of tourists in the area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-07102006-164430 |
| Date | 11 July 2006 |
| Creators | Schaffer, Dawn |
| Contributors | William Kelso, Craig Miller, J. Andrew Nyman, Rex Caffey |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07102006-164430/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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