BATON ROUGE, La., Jan. 29 -- Louisiana ranks as one of
America's favorite winter travel destinations in a winter travel forecast
conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). Louisiana was
listed in TIA's 1998-99 Winter Travel's Top Ten Destinations in the U.S.

"We worked hard to put Louisiana in the top ten," said Lt. Gov. Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco. "The state has made a strong commitment to aggressive
advertising and marketing. We're on the map and getting stronger in
international markets, as well as the U.S."

The results of TIA's report showed that plans to go on a cruise while on
vacation are up five points from last year to 15%. This bodes well for
Louisiana, whose cruise ship hub, New Orleans, has just added Carnival Cruise
Line's luxury liner Sensation to its existing port-of-call list.

"Louisiana's mild climate gives us an edge with visitors escaping harsh
winters. We expect more growth with the addition of new cruise line
partnerships," said Blanco.

In conjunction with the Sensation, Carnival Cruise Lines currently operates
a homeport in New Orleans for its cruise ship Celebration. Other cruise lines
that have homeports or ports-of-call in New Orleans include American Canadian
Caribbean, Commodore, Delta Queen, RiverBarge Excursion Lines and Ivaran.

"The increased interest in cruising, combined with the FrancoFete
celebration taking place throughout 1999, should reinforce Louisiana's rank as
one of America's top ten winter destinations," said Phillip Jones, Secretary
of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

For a free Louisiana Tour Guide and FrancoFete Calendar of Events, visitors
may call 800-44GUMBO, visit the website:
www.louisianatravel.com, or write
the Louisiana Office of Tourism: P.O. Box 94291, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9291.