Maria Manzella Joins the New Orleans CVB's Tourism Sales Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Jennifer Day/Jenn Lotz
New Orleans CVB
504-566-5019
jday@neworleanscvb.com
jlotz@neworleanscvb.com

Maria Manzella Joins the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (CVB)
Tourism Sales Team
New hire’s strong bilingual skills showcases New Orleans as a multilingual, international destination

NEW ORLEANS – September 1, 2010 – The New Orleans CVB is announcing that Maria Manzella joined their award-winning staff as a tourism sales manager and will work with tour operators in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Canada to attract international travelers to New Orleans.

Prior to joining the New Orleans CVB team, Manzella worked for the Windsor Court Hotel for 12 years, the last four years as a revenue manager. A native of Honduras, Manzella moved to New Orleans to pursue her undergraduate degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management from the University of New Orleans (UNO). She then completed her Masters of Business Administration from UNO. She can be contacted at mmanzella@neworleanscvb.com.

“Maria’s position in tourism sales is extremely important, as her markets cover Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and our largest international market, Canada,” said Kim Priez, vice president of tourism sales for the New Orleans CVB. “International travelers tend to stay in New Orleans on average five nights and spend twice as much as domestic travelers, so attracting these visitors to New Orleans is key to the success of our industry.”

According to an annual survey conducted by UNO Hospitality Research Center, in 2009, New Orleans hosted 7.5 million visitors to the city and travelers spent $4.2 billion. A total of 6.9% of respondents came to New Orleans from other countries. The highest percentage of international visitors was from Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

The New Orleans CVB is the driving catalyst for New Orleans’ largest industry – tourism – strategically leading national and international marketing, public relations and visitor services efforts that attract millions of visitors, events, conventions and festivals. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2010. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com.

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