New Orleans has been courting tourists since the Civil War Reconstruction ended. For a long time, the city's mystique was enough to attract a steady stream of visitors.
That changed in 1959 when the Chamber of Commerce began to modernize its efforts to market the city, quadrupling the budget of its fledgling tourism department.
First in line to help them do it was Mayor deLesseps "Chep" Morrison, who pledged $15,000 in city money.
It was an early case of the city subsidizing the tourism industry. Over the next 40 years, lawmakers sliced off chunks of the city's tax base, redirecting the proceeds to a growing roster of special commissions dedicated to bringing in more visitors.