Tagged: economy

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A federal agency says Gulf and Southeast U.S. ports will need big help getting ready to trade with supersized cargo ships expected to arrive through an expanded Panama Canal. The Army Corps of Engineers says deepening harbors to accommodate the giant ships could require up to $5 billion. 

New Orleans hotel operators say occupancy is the highest in more than a decade. They credit refurbished hotels, a jam-packed calendar and continued recovery from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Room rates are up, too. The Times-Picayune reports that Smith Travel Research quotes the city's average daily hotel rate at $154 — the highest since February 2002, when it averaged $159.40 a night.

Rates through April of this year averaged $148.61. That's 12.6 percent better than same four months last year.

Diplomatic ties between New Orleans and South Africa are being renewed after a break 33 years ago over Apartheid rule. An honorary consul’s main concern will be shepherding a $10 billion energy plant to completion in southwest Louisiana.