No Tourism Proposal

The New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corp. opted last week to terminate merger plans with the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Times-Picayune reported that move came after months of discussion between the two groups failed to get an agreement on how to structure the new organization.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who once strongly backed the merger, favored scrapping the plan, saying he believed the new entity should be a public body because it would receive public funds. The marketing corporation took the same view.

A recent consulting group study said that New Orleans is the only major city with more than one tourism promotion organization.

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A proposal to merge two agencies that promote New Orleans' big-dollar tourism industry has died.