Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Louisiana Office of Tourism Assistant Secretary Doug Bourgeois sits down with Afar editorial director Billie Cohen to talk about a state whose pitch to travelers is built on joie de vivre—and what that actually looks like on the ground. Doug has led tourism for the state since 2018, but his roots go deeper: he grew up in Thibodaux, an authentically Cajun city an hour from New Orleans, and started his career as a riverboat shore-excursion guide giving a Cajun heritage tour. In 2025, Louisiana welcomed 45 million visitors and generated 19 billion dollars in spending, finally returning to pre-pandemic levels. New Orleans alone hosted 19 million visitors, the second-highest figure in the city's history. But the state is also navigating real headwinds, including a steep drop in Canadian visitation, and Doug is thinking carefully about how to keep momentum going. In this conversation, Doug and Billie discuss The 2026 Year of Outdoors campaign and the broader strategy of building annual "Year of" themes (Music, Food, and now Outdoors) to give travelers a fresh reason to come back How the Michelin Guide arrived in Louisiana this year, awarding two stars in New Orleans and additional stars elsewhere—and why Doug says it enhanced rather than changed the state's visitor demographic The Gas Station Eats trail, the hot sauce ice cream made with raspberry chipotle, and the case for Louisiana as a culinary destination far beyond New Orleans The Acadian cultural ties to Canada, the "Louisiana olive branch" of roux spoons Doug's team mailed to Canadians who'd requested travel guides, and what cross-border outreach actually looks like The Mississippi River Parkway Commission and the case for the river as a single 10-state destination Where Doug is investing internationally now—the UK direct flight from London, growing momentum in Australia, and a long-game bet on India Resources The Afar guide to Louisiana Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome to View From Afar 00:02:00 The Tabasco Test 00:03:00 Growing Up on the Bayou 00:05:00 A Culinary State 00:07:00 Year of the Outdoors 00:09:00 The Roux Spoon Olive Branch 00:11:00 Where Louisiana Is Going Next 00:12:00 The Mississippi as Destination 00:13:30 Beyond New Orleans 00:15:00 Where Joy Begins 00:18:30 Becoming Part of the Story Stay Connected Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week. Follow @AfarMedia on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ for behind-the-scenes IPW content. ⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠ for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor. Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights. Explore our other podcasts, ⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Unpacked⁠⁠. This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices