The American Business Journal: New Orleans Steam Boat Co.

New Orleans Steam Boat Co.
================================================================================
admin on 26 November, 2009 12:53:00
 
With its four subsidiaries, The New Orleans Steamboat Company—an
all-service event planner, Gray Line tours, French café and jazz bar and
a traditional river cruise—is providing many ways to entertain, educate
and showcase the city’s past, present and vibrant nightlife.
Piloting on the Mississippi River was not work to me; it was play.delightful
play, vigorous play, adventurous play.and I loved it... - Mark Twain in Eruption
She is the undisputed champion of the Missis­sippi—the very best of
her line. Boarding the Natchez, owned by the New Orleans Steamboat Company,
makes you feel as if you have entered another era. As the captain gives his
orders through an old-time hand-held megaphone, the vessel navigates the heavy
waters of the Mississip­pi. As the old-fashioned steamboat glides past the
French Quarter in New Orleans, one of the world’s most active ports, you
begin to understand the magic of the experience.
‘Making a statement about American heritage’
That’s exactly what Gordon Stevens, chief ex­ecutive officer and
chairman Bill Dow of New Orleans Steamboat Company intended when the Natchez set
sail in 1975. The business owners revived more than just its famous name. It is
also one of only two true steam-powered stern­wheelers on the nation’s
in-land rivers today. It all started with Dow and his father, a renowned lawyer
in New York, who owned a boat business in the area. “They took steamboat
engines out of the old US steel push-boat “Clairton” that operated
on the Canara River in western Virginia. Those were authentic steam engines
built in Germany in 1920,” tells Stevens of the company’s history.
The Natchez today, with the demise of the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen, and
American Queen is the last steam-powered boat on the Mississippi River,”
says Stevens, adding the company prides itself on making a statement every day
about the American steam­boat era as a former central transportation for
passengers and cargo.
One-stop shop for visitors and locals
Now, with multiple subsidiaries under its belt, the New Orleans Steamboat
Company is a one-stop shop for visitors and locals with its all-service event
planning; boat charters; Gray Line tours; French café jazz bar; and of
course, its traditional river cruise. Located in two hot spots, including
Bourbon Street, Café Beignet is known for its French square-shaped
pastry, which is almost doughnut-like and sprinkled in powdered sugar. On water,
the 1600-passenger, steam-pumped stern-wheeler runs as many as two harbor
cruises a day that are narrated by a professional tour guide. “There is
also a lovely, up-scale New Orleans buffet dinner with a Grammy-nominated
Dixieland band,” says Stevens, adding its private charters and outdoor
events hosted on the wharf can accommodate up to 2500 people.
Survived the storm
But the successful multi-service tourism company has seen its share of turbulent
economic storms. Following Katrina, the steamboat company plum­meted along
with tourism in conventional busi­nesses in New Orleans. “It’s
coming back nicely now, but it’s been a struggle. We had to sell a boat
and even scale back, as many companies have had to do to survive,” tells
Stevens, who adds their strategy has been successful in keep a good core of
staff and maintained its piece of the pie in terms of sales. “Actually,
New Orleans is thought to have been insolated a bit from the recession. Our
business is already doing much better than last year,” he says.
‘Quality, first-class service sets us apart’
As the tide turns, the corporate headquarters relocated from the 25th floor in
the World Trade Center to a historical building known as the JAX Brewery
Marketplace. The two-storey structure was built in the 1860s, marked with high
ceilings, sturdy beams and wooden floors. “It is a two-minute walk from
our main facility to the wharf, where our boats are docked and the Gray Line
Tours ticket sales offices is,” explains Stevens, adding the 110-staffed
company also consolidated its operations. Still, he says, there are many people
who have been working with us as long as 30 years. “We focus on quality
and providing first-class service. We ignore what our competition is doing by
just doing our best in every way that we can,” says Stevens adding it is
that very quality that sets them apart from competition.
Special events, an area of growth
The sales for New Orleans Special Events and its Gray Line Tours are a growing
division of the company. “Our goal in the next year or two is to reinstate
the zoo cruise—to provide a transporta­tion link between those two
world-class tourism destinations—which we once had between the Aquarium of
the Americas and the Audubon Zoo,” he says, explaining the yacht
look-alike vessel could also be used for private parties and chartered rides.
“I think our specialty is to showcase our history and heritage, the mystic
and the excite­ment that makes New Orleans one of the unique places in this
country and, possibly, the world. We also want visitors to have an educational
and entertaining experience,” he says, adding the company tries to
incorporate all those things that make New Orleans so special with that
Mississippi River experience. It all began with sailing on a real steamboat.
“Mark Twain would be proud there is at least one left,” he says.