- I was always a firm believer of whatever gift
that you have culturally, you should be able
to make a life out of it.
Right now, I'm working on dog collars, beaded dog collars.
I haven't made money since March. So I got to
figure out other ways to take care of myself and my family.
So what better way to do it then to use your own culture?
- [Reporter] As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into
a second year, New Orleans, a city hit hard early on
in the pandemic and whose economy is dependent on tourism
is trying to keep case numbers down while also
figuring out what tourism looks like in 2021.
To better understand how the city's economic landscape is
impacting those whose livelihoods are connected
to the tourism industry, I spoke to a few people
to find out how they're surviving financially,
and what's at stake for their businesses
and their communities.
- How important is tourism to the New Orleans economy?
- Tourism is our major economic driver.
Mardi Gras is a big, big deal.
There is a tremendous amount of tax revenue generated
so we are certainly missing that.
- [Reporter] The destination marketing organization
in the city says the tourism industry was down 70%
in 2020 compared to 2019.
But Jay Banks, a city council member says safety
is the priority over finances.
- I clearly understand the economics of this, but
I'm also clearly understanding the health concerns of it.
And while I would like to be able to say
that we can do everything we do and keep people safe,
unfortunately we can't.
(Upbeat jazz music)
- Before the pandemic, how many nights a week
were you playing?
- I was playing like two or three clubs a week
before the pandemic.
- [Reporter] Renard Henry who was born and raised in Tremé,
a historically black neighborhood with deep-rooted
musical traditions comes from an important musical family
in new Orleans.
- [Renard] Justin Jones is my grandfather
and I have an uncle Benny, he's the leader of
the Tremé Brass Band. And I have my brother Corey Henry.
(Upbeat jazz music)
- [Reporter] Henry says the gigs he's able to get now
pay less than before the pandemic.
Recently, he performed with Tremé Brass Band outside DBA,
a popular Frenchman Street club that he used to
play inside of.
- We're playing in the DBA, we would average
maybe like $200, $250 with some tips, you know.
But nowadays we're playing outside.
We're roughing it up, scrambling like a little $40, $50.
- [Reporter] Henry has been able to find work
through a Mardi Gras crew that has hired artists
and musicians as couriers, house float designers, and more.
It's just one example of how the city has come together
to help those who have taken the biggest financial hit.
(exciting music)
- Hey, guys! How you doing?
- [Reporter] For Alexis Graber, better known as
Trixie Minx, The Burlesque Queen of New Orleans,
her business, Trixie Minx Productions was doing well
prior to the pandemic.
- That first quarter of 2020 was actually like
our highest grossing quarter yet to date.
And we went from that to literally,
it wasn't exactly zero, but like, I cried.
- [Reporter] And almost a year into the pandemic,
she's struggling to keep her business afloat,
while also keeping her employees working safely.
- I've tried everything. I've done everything from
in-person shows to virtual shows to zoom performances.
- [Reporter] In October, she launched a weekly virtual show
at DBA on Frenchmen Street.
- All those shows went so smoothly, but the problem was is
that we didn't make money. And if anything, we lost money.
And that quarter, I say this a lot, it felt like
a sucker punch and a knife twist
and a kick while you were down.
- [Reporter] After a reset, she scaled back the shows
at DBA to once a month.
- I was super excited about this, honestly.
Thank you guys for making my weekend.
The hardest choice I had to make was realizing we
had to do less, to be able to save the business.
And it seems counterintuitive, but in doing shows,
doing them safely, and doing them regularly
actually lost the company more money.
- Well, this is a live music street first and foremost.
That's what keeps it going. And unless we all open,
it doesn't really do much good.
- [Reporter] Another business owner who found that
being open was actually causing her to lose more money,
is Sophie Lee Lowry, the owner of Three Muses,
a restaurant and jazz club on Frenchman Street.
- A regular Friday night, you can't even get a table.
- Mm hm.
- Or sit at the bar.
- [Reporter] But the pandemic forced the restaurant
to close down in March until they were able to
get a PPP grant.
- I had used my savings, I borrowed money from family,
exhausted every avenue I had until finally
the money came in.
- [Reporter] She tried to reopen for takeout and delivery,
but without the street's regular foot traffic,
she found it wasn't sustainable.
- Can you talk a little bit about how much
you're still paying to keep this place dormant?
- Back in March, April, May, not only did we have the rent
and utilities, we still had purveyors that we owed.
So our income stopped March 15th,
but our bills kept coming in.
It was somewhere around $30,000 a month,
just operating costs on a shuttered business.
Thankfully, that's gone down as our bills were paid.
So now I would say it's around $15,000.
- A month?
- A month, for a closed business. Yes.
- With zero revenue coming in to balance it out.
- With zero revenue.
(laughing).
Right.
- [Reporter] Her application for a second round of PPP
was denied, but she's reapplied
with additional documentation and she's holding off
on reopening until she gets funding
and the COVID-19 outlook improves.
(lively drum music)
- [Singer] Now roll with it!
- [Reporter] For many in New Orleans,
the pandemic isn't just a threat to their health
or their bank accounts.
It's also a threat to their cultural traditions.
- You know, culture doesn't get preserved for free.
- [Reporter] Shaka Zulu is the Big Chief
of the Golden Feather Hunters, a masking Indian tribe
in New Orleans. He has a few businesses related
to his culture, like a gallery, a stage performance,
and a feather supply company. On the weekends,
he teaches an African stilt dancing class in his community.
- My life is, you know, not just a cultural keeper.
This is what I do for a living.
- [Reporter] The pandemic ground has worked to a halt,
but for Zulu, the questions are bigger than when
he will be able to resume those projects.
- I think this pandemic exposed what's been going
on for since the beginning.
- [Reporter] He says the pandemic has highlighted
long-term inequality. How dollars brought into New Orleans
by tourists don't always find their way back
to the culture bearers who attract many
of those visitors to the city.
- How come it's always about us, but when it
comes to economics, it's without us?
(lively drum music)
The pandemic may possibly bring attention to that,
because for once, everybody is shut down, you know.
Nobody is open. So now, what's going
to bring the tourism back?
(music ends)
- That's it! Party over.
- Yeah!
(applause)