The Louisiana Office of Tourism set aside $300,000 in its annual budget to pay for local artists to go bird watching with Rolling Stone magazine. It’s part of Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser’s $10 million strategy to promote Louisiana as a tourist destination across the globe over the next year. 

In 2019, Rolling Stone produced “Birding with Charles”, an online video series in which celebrities and musicians went bird watching with magazine writer Charles Holmes. The publication plans to revive the feature this year, and Louisiana will participate through a paid partnership that promotes local musicians as well as a new birding trail in the state, according to documents from the Office of Tourism. 

It’s just one of the unconventional ideas included in Nungesser’s state marketing plan the Louisiana Legislature’s joint budget committee approved this week. State lawmakers agreed Wednesday to allow Nungesser to spend $10 million on the proposal with little discussion. 

Another “big ticket” item in the tourism plan includes advertising on the outside of the new high-tech music venue in Las Vegas called Sphere. The orb-shaped building operates like a giant LED screen and has become an internet sensation. It reportedly cost over $2 billion to construct and opened in September to host the band U2 for a string of dates.  

Nungesser’s office has earmarked $650,000 in its budget for a two-hour takeover of Sphere’s surface in which a 90-second graphic will run continuously some time between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on a night that hasn’t been picked yet. The money will also buy Louisiana a one-week “residency” on the outside of Sphere for a Louisiana promotion to run two times every hour.

The lieutenant governor said he hasn’t committed to the Sphere campaign yet — he is still studying the proposal —  but the ad buy would be expected to generate 2.1 million in-person views and “billions of impressions” across social media and traditional news outlets, according to budget documents provided to lawmakers.  

Nungesser has also set aside $500,000 for other advertising specifically promoting the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans during next year’s NFL title game in Las Vegas. This will include Louisiana material at the Las Vegas airport and on billboards around Allegiant Stadium leading up to the event in February.

He is also moving forward with Louisiana-theme floats for both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and the Rose Parade that kicks off Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Jan. 1. Participating in the two parades will collectively cost the state $1 million. 

Other items in the Louisiana’s marketing budget include Louisiana promotions at jazz and blues festivals in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York City, Norfolk, Va.and Washington, D.C., ($800,000 total); paying Louisiana musicians and other artists for social media account “takeovers” ($100,000); expanding Louisiana’s new Civil Rights trail ($300,000); targeted advertising for Louisiana in the Atlanta, Houston and Dallas airports ($350,000 total); and developing a guide to Louisiana based on people’s zodiac signs ($200,000).

The state of Louisiana will also spend $1 million sponsoring and promoting the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Nungesser also plans purchase the Office of Tourism two new vehicles – which will be wrapped in tourism promotional material – for $100,000 using Louisiana’s marketing dollars. 

Nungesser, who easily won reelection to another term this past Saturday, is launching a new five-year state tourism campaign in January. It will be called the “Year of Music,” followed in successive years with campaigns for food, culture, history and the outdoors.

As lieutenant governor, Nungesser oversees state government efforts to promote Louisiana as a visitor destination. He said he mostly relies on his tourism staff to come up with creative ideas for marketing. 

The $10 million tourism promotion budget comes from a small portion of the state sales tax devoted to state marketing. Tourism is one of the state’s largest industries and essential to Louisiana’s economy. Visitor spending topped $17 billion and generated $1.9 billion in tax revenue in 2022 alone, according to Nungesser’s office.