Ghost Tours Push for Later Tour Times and Larger Groups

By Marti Speights

Sidney Smith is asking the City Council to extend the curfew for walking tours in the French Quarter and allow more people on each tour. The current walking tour ordinance, which limits tours to 28 people, was passed in response to the very large tours and the late hours that disturbed neighborhoods at the residential end of Royal, Bourbon, St. Philip, Gov. Nicholls and other Vieux Carré streets.

Both Friends of the Cabildo and Gray Line Tours endorsed the regulations as reasonable. It is hard to "herd" even 28 people into one tour so that they do not block sidewalks, bar the doors of businesses, spill into the streets creating an additional public safety hazard, and act in ways that irritate residents and businesses. Also, one must increase the volume so all participants can hear, creating more noise in the neighborhood. The smaller tours at reasonable hours are welcome, as they create a climate for neighborhood safety and offer a much higher quality visitor experience. We have appealed to the City Council to not change the ordinance.