-15 months ago, the New Orleans French Quarter looked
and sounded like this.
Today, the scene is very different.
Vaccinated people in New Orleans are no longer required
to wear masks in most public settings,
but the Big Easy economy has been shattered
by the global pandemic,
losing an estimated $125 million a week since March 2020.
COVID has been absolutely devastating
on our hospitality and tourism industry,
which is an industry that in 2019 alone
brought us 19 million visitors and $10 billion in spending.
There's almost 100,000 people
who make their living in this industry.
-Signs of recovery are in plain sight
on the streets of New Orleans.
The music is playing and tourism
is creeping back into the historic port town.
But officials say vaccinations
are critical to a full economic return.
Fully vaccinated people in Louisiana and across Southern
states are averaging in the 30 to 40 percentile range.
-We're trying to be as creative as possible
and really bring vaccines into communities
where it's convenient and even fun.
-A pound of free crawfish
for every person who gets the vaccine.
-So we said "Okay, well, we want to do our part
to help with that" because our mission is working
with small businesses and nonprofits in the city.
And we need our local economy to come back.
And to do that, we need to get to herd immunity.
So for us, it's really important,
and it's really important to the small business
community as well.
-An approach some say only in New Orleans,
as the city is partnering with local nonprofits and restaurants
to entice residents in the fight against COVID-19.
-I mean, just like everywhere else,
vaccines are really what is gonna get us back
to normal life.
And so much of our economy here in New Orleans
is based on tourism,
so we want to make sure that our people are safe,
our people working in the service industry are safe,
and then also we want to know
that New Orleans is a safe place to come and visit.
-New Orleans is the second-most vaccinated parish in the state,
with more than 40% of its residents fully vaccinated.
-It's critically important.
We cannot stress vaccinations enough.
People now are staring to say "Oh, well, the city's packed."
And yes, we are staring to see more and more visitors come in.
Those are primarily leisure visitors who come in
on the weekends, which is great.
But we have a long way to go
before our industry fully recovers.
And there's some big segments
of visitation that is missing right now.
-Like conventions and cruise lines docking at the port.
Both pack hotel rooms and fuel the economy
across the Crescent City, which in 2019 brought in $10.
5 billion.
-You're gonna do a stuffed drum or --
-At the oldest family-owned restaurant in America
and by far the longest-running in New Orleans, Antoine's,
has been serving since 1840 in the French Quarter.
And like everyone else here,
fought to stay alive over the past year.
-We have 14 private dining rooms.
And we love a la carte and we love doing our tourists,
our twos and fours and things like that,
but our meat and potatoes is in those larger groups
and filling those rooms.
So until we can really get some conventions back
and some bigger groups back,
we need that momentum as a city to make it thrive again.
-Bring your feet together for me please.
Heels and toes touch.
-The same goes for Magnolia Yoga Studio,
who is working a holistic approach
to the healing of New Orleans.
-We realize that our health
determines our economy, you know?
That if you're not well mentally, physically,
emotionally, it's very hard to go to work.
So I'm actually hoping that the education system,
the health department, law enforcement
who I'm actually working with in a real intentional way,
that we fold into their programming health and wellness.
-Social interaction is part of
the creative spirit of New Orleans.
People from around the world visit this historic city
on the Mississippi River.
And only time will tell the story of recovery here.
But if history is any indication,
the Big Easy will have a big comeback.