Mark Wilson, a spokesman for the French Quarter Business Association, doesn't know if some businesses will be able to hang on that long. But he's optimistic overall and thinks the Sugar Bowl will be a great lead-in to '09.

His message to business owners: "Tighten your belt. Offer good customer service. Hunker down. And I think we'll be OK."

Officials are branding the city as a great value - a place where, when you're promised good food and music, you get it - and hope the exposure of a nationally televised college football game will accomplish the same things as an advertising campaign.

Marilyn and Peggy Stone didn't think twice about making the trip from Salt Lake City when they heard their alma mater, Utah, would be playing in the Sugar Bowl. But they were sensitive to the cost: They didn't take a big vacation last year, cut back on Christmas spending and saved money by taking the train instead of flying, even though it took two days to get here.

While in New Orleans, they didn't plan anything extravagant; a tour was the expected highlight before the game. On Wednesday morning, they sat in Jackson Square in shirt-sleeves, watching the milling tourists and enjoying weather that was chilly by local standards but downright balmy to them.

Pam Bell, an Alabama fan from Grayson, Ga., said the trip and game were her Christmas present.

"I'm killing time until the football game," she said, as she and her husband, Steve, strolled past T-shirt shops, cafes and boutiques along Decatur Street.