Visit Baton Rouge - Out to Lunch - It's Baton Rouge

Living in the shadows of New Orleans, one of the great tourist
destinations of the country, if not the world, Baton Rouge isn't
typically thought of as a hot spot for the leisure traveler. But
that has started to change in recent years, as the city and
industry associations have begun marketing the Baton Rouge more
aggressively as a place not to only to come do business at the
state capitol or watch LSU football, but to come play.

Paul Arrigo is the longtime President of Visit Baton Rouge, the
city's convention and visitor's bureau. Visit Baton Rouge is funded
by the city's 6% hotel motel tax. The organization gets 4 cents of
that. The other 2 cents goes to the Raising Cane's River Center.
With that money, Visit Baton Rouge promotes and markets Baton Rouge
as a destination for both the leisure and business traveler and
convention groups.

Ben Blackwell is General Manager of the Courtyard Marriott, one of
the newest hotels located right in the heart of downtown. When the
Courtyard opened in September 2018, it brought the number of
downtown hotel rooms to more than 1,000, which was a key goal of
downtown and tourism industry leaders alike. Ben served in
management roles in several other local hotels before moving over
to the Courtyard Marriott. He also serves as President of the
premier industry association in his field, the Baton Rouge Lodging
Association.

Photos over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard by Karry Hosford.

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