''Come Out and Play'' is the theme of ads that tout the city's music, food and cultural and family attractions.
The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp. rolled out the campaign with a jazz band and dancers in mid-April along with a survey that showed visitation grew from 3.7 million in 2006, the year after Hurricane Katrina, to 7.1 million last year.
''We are on some kind of roll this year,'' Mayor Ray Nagin said.
Since Katrina, tourism officials have tried to sell prospective travelers on the idea that the city is open for business, but they've often come up against concerns about violent crime, misgivings about having a good time when people are still rebuilding their lives, and misperceptions that parts of the city are still under water.
After pulling off a series of successful events and bringing up tourism numbers, officials now feel they've turned a corner, said Lea Sinclair, a spokeswoman for the Tourism Marketing Corp.
''One of the biggest things we're seeing now is, making sure people understand that it's OK to come and visit and have fun,'' she said.
