The head of Take a look at Baton Rouge stated a study will be finished later this year to decide what demands to be finished with the Boosting Cane’s River Centre in purchase to improved market the entertainment complicated to locals and out-of-city citizens.
A ask for for proposals for the River Heart research ought to go out in the next numerous weeks, Paul Arrigo, CEO of the city’s tourism agency, explained to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday. The report really should be done by early 2023.
“This will inform us if we want a single, two or a few lodges near the River Centre,” Arrigo claimed. “This will convey to us what we need to do with the whole River Heart campus.”
Arrigo would not disclose how a great deal money has been budgeted for the analyze, indicating he didn’t want to suggestion off consulting firms on how much there is to invest on the project.
The closest accommodations to the River Centre are the two briefly shut. The Belle of Baton Rouge lodge shut down for renovations in 2020. The downtown assets is in the system of remaining bought to CQ Holding Company. Arrigo claimed he thinks the hotel will reopen, but with a smaller sized number of rooms than the 288 it had just before the shutdown.
The Holiday break Inn Convey on North Boulevard closed previous 7 days, immediately after Mississippi-based mostly Thrash Group bought the 89-area hotel for $7 million and claimed they would rebrand it as an Origin Lodge. The renovations and growth get the job done ought to take about a year.
Pay a visit to Baton Rouge just lately wrapped up one more research, which appeared at the metropolis-parish as a tourism destination. The examine, which about 250 nearby stakeholders participated in, observed that Baton Rouge faced complications in phrases of providing general public transportation, economical daycare possibilities, very affordable housing and enough teaching systems for hospitality employees. Other challenges for the tourism marketplace had been crime, site visitors congestion, homelessness and litter.
Arrigo stated the outcomes of the study are becoming incorporated into Go to Baton Rouge’s strategic approach, which will be authorized later on this thirty day period.
The new strategic system will get Visit Baton Rouge functioning closely with businesses this sort of as the mayor’s place of work, the Downtown Growth District and the Baton Rouge Location Chamber to address challenges struggling with the tourism marketplace. One particular instance is reducing litter, which is also a precedence for Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and BRAC.
“There’s no use for us to be in three silos, all functioning on this individually,” Arrigo explained.
This is all part of an ongoing shift among area tourism organizations nationwide to function on increasing a location, instead of just advertising and marketing the place to guests.
“We have to work with other businesses and fully grasp collectively we can do a greater position,” Arrigo reported.