Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs discusses the possible motives behind the recent New Orleans attack and Vegas bombing in “Making Money.”
Travel experts do not believe the New Year’s Eve terror attack in New Orleans will affect tourism in the coming months.
“Recognizing that everyone has different ideas about what’s safe, it would be a shame to cancel plans to visit the Big Easy because of the terrorist attack,” Clint Henderson, managing editor at The Points Guy, told FOX Business.
Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove one, according to authorities truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street in the early hours of the New Year, killing 15 people and injuring dozens more. Jabbar, who died at the scene of the attack, was a US-born citizen who lived in Texas.
Police said the suspect died after jumping from his truck and exchanging gunfire with responding officers.
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“Now Bourbon Street has reopened and the city is counting on tourism dollars for the next big events in town including Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl and Jazz Fest,” Henderson told FOX Business. “The best thing you can do to support the community is to keep your plans to visit.”
Revelers walk along Bourbon Street in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras Day on February 16, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Patrick Semansky/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
It’s a particularly good time to visit given that “local officials will be especially vigilant,” according to Henderson.
Henderson expects tourism to take a short-term hit, but hopes “local businesses won’t have to wait long for a recovery in visitors and spending.”
Like Henderson, Gilbert Ott, head of partnerships at travel rewards platform godsavethepoints.com, told FOX Business that destinations like New Orleans “bounce back very quickly when incidents happen.”
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“I know the international community, thanks to the enthusiasm that New Orleans attracts around the world, will rally around this historic city like never before,” Ott said, adding that “passengers flying to New Orleans tend to book their trip a few weeks to months in advance—for big events like the Super Bowl, or events like bachelor and bachelorette parties or 40th birthday celebrations, just right.
Police checkpoints in and around Bourbon Street after a vehicle plowed into New Year’s Eve crowds in a tourist district, local authorities said in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States on January 1, 2025. (Patt Little/Anadolu via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Daniel Green, co-founder of Faye Travel Insurance, agreed that “it is impossible for people to change their appetite or behavior around travel”. He believes events such as the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras will be just as crowded as previously expected.
However, Green noted that travelers who might be nervous can always take advantage of things like Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) insurance, which is designed to allow people to cancel their plans before the deadline predetermined times and recover a large amount of investment that you have made in your trip.
Meanwhile, investigations are still ongoing. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.
Louisiana’s top attorney has vowed to keep an eye on those believed to be involved in the Bourbon Street terror attack.
FBI investigators arrive at the scene of a white Ford F-150 truck that crashed into a work elevator after allegedly plowing into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 1, 2025. (MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill posted on X, “In Louisiana, we have the death penalty and we will carry it out!
Murrill tells Fox News that there is evidence that multiple individuals are involved, but declines to share further details.
FOX Business’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
