New Orleans Company to Offer Disaster Tours

[DFWdem]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051215/ap_on_re_us/katrina_disaster_tour

For $35 per person — $28 for children — a New Orleans company is offering bus tours of some of the city's most misery-stricken spots, including the Superdome, the Convention Center and neighborhoods ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Residents disagree over whether the tours are crass and morbid exploitation, or a good way to help people grasp the enormity of the disaster and keep public attention focused on New Orleans' plight.

The buses will start at the edge of the French Quarter, then drive past the Superdome and Convention Center, where thousands suffered in the heat for days without food or water. The tour also may include the destroyed marina and neighborhoods like the flooded Lakefront, Gentilly and eastern New Orleans areas.

Company vice president Gary Hoffman said he intends to show "the utmost sensitivity" to those whose homes were destroyed. After all, he said, they include about 60 percent of the company's 65 pre-Katrina employees, including himself.

More at link

I'm of 2 minds on this. New Orleans can certainly use all of the tourist revenue it can get right now, but is this a proper tourist activity? I suppose many of those who decide to take this tour would probably drive themselves around town if the tour wasn't offered, but should we be encouraging people to gawk at the destruction? For the record, I'm going to N.O. and the MS Gulf Coast the first week of the year, and I will drive around N.O.to see the scope of the disaster. I spent many holidays at various relatives' homes throughout the years, and many of those relatives lived in areas that were flooded.