Highlighting a heritage: stirring the pot of money

American Visions, Feb-March, 1995 by Michael Pina

With a new mayor and a newly created tourism office, Powell and other travel industry insiders see the city as poised to take advantage of its diverse heritage. "New Orleans is the only truly multicultural city that exists today based on its earliest settlers," she notes. "This is a city that was controlled by the French, the Spanish and the Americans. But the most significant impact was made by African Americans. We influenced New Orleans' history--its food, its art, its music and its entertainment, which are what made this city so famous."

Michael Pina is associate editor of Travel Weekly, in Washington, D.C. His last article for American Visions, "Belize: Small Wonder," appeared in the December/January 1994 issue.