Mrs. Gayle Benson is currently on a 10-day trip to Rome and Germany, where she recently met with members of the Papal Foundation among other business and tourism groups in Rome sharing her vision for investment in New Orleans and the renovation of the iconic St. Louis Cathedral. During her visit, she had a personal audience with Pope Francis, presenting him with a Saints jersey. While in Rome, she also met with Italian leaders in economic development and tourism, promoting business development in Louisiana and New Orleans.

Currently, she is attending Mercedes-Benz global meetings in Stuttgart. And just today, she spent time meeting with the German head of Foreign Trade, Gunther Schmid, as well as the lead staff at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism.

"This has been a very productive trip promoting and talking investment and tourism for our state of Louisiana," Gayle Benson said. "There is so much excitement among the people that I met with in Rome, wishing to help us in the restoration of the St. Louis Cathedral. In Germany, there is tremendous interest in investment and business connection with our state. They love NFL football in Germany, so that was a plus. I wanted to take advantage of this unique opportunity to promote our state, encourage business development and of course promote our great tourism industry in Louisiana and New Orleans."