Priceline Travelers Choose New Orleans French Quarter as a Top Five Independence Day Destination

NEW ORLEANS, July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Priceline.com announced that New Orleans ranked second on the booking engine's annual 50 most popular July Fourth tourist destinations survey. This is the fourth time since 2008 that New Orleans has made the list, including 2009 when the city ranked first among the top 50.

According to Priceline's "Travel Ekspert," Brian Ek, the list is determined by booking requests customers make using Priceline's Name Your Own Price® hotel reservation service. He also notes that since results are based on credit card-backed booking requests, Priceline.com believes that the survey is one of the more accurate predictors of July Fourth travel trends.

The highlight of July Fourth weekend in New Orleans is ESSENCE Music Festival, the largest African-American cultural event in the United States. ESSENCE returns to the Louisiana Superdome, which just completed an $85 million renovation, and the New Orleans Morial Convention Center July 1-3, 2011. On July 4, 2011, locals and visitors can enjoy Go 4th on the River, an annual celebration featuring music and the dueling barges fireworks show. Other July, August and September festivals include Tales of the Cocktail, Satchmo SummerFest, Whitney White Linen Night, the New Orleans Seafood Festival and Southern Decadence Festival.

The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau is a nationally accredited, 1,000-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. We create $5 billion in new capital each year- more than any other business sector- by attracting millions of visitors, special events and conventions. The CVB and its members influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding and visitor services at our New Orleans headquarters and offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and four foreign countries. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com.

The Priceline Group of Companies is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with over 170,000 participating hotels worldwide. The Group is composed of four primary brands - Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw - and several ancillary brands. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in Europe, North America, South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

Media Contacts:
Jennifer Day or Jenn Lotz
New Orleans CVB
504-566-5019
[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau