NEW ORLEANS — The glitz and glamour of the Louisiana Superdome's reopening Monday could be the weekend tourism boost the city has been waiting for since Hurricane Katrina devastated its top industry more than a year ago.

The New Orleans Saints return to the dome, which had become a national symbol of the misery for one of the nation's worst natural disasters, to showcase the stadium's new renovations with a star-studded, media-heavy event for Monday Night Football.

The game against the Atlanta Falcons is sold out and fans are flocking to the Big Easy, giving restaurants and hotels hope of a return the city's once-thriving multibillion-dollar tourism business.

"We're seeing demand for rooms is up and it peaks on Monday night," said Bill Langkopp, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association. "That's very rare, but that's what's happening, so it must be people coming to town for the game."

The city, which now has about 28,000 available hotel rooms, saw occupancy plummet to about 55 percent or less this summer, Langkopp said. The decline came as Federal Emergency Management Agency workers and others who had worked on the recovery left town, he said.

This weekend, Langkopp said, occupancy is expected to be in the high 80 percent range.

At Mothers Restaurant, which specializes in po-boys and Southern cooking about a half-mile from the Superdome, business has been down 50 to 60 percent since the storm, chef-proprietor Jerry Amato said.

"We'd love a big weekend, but we need more than one big weekend," Amato said. "We need people to move back to town to live. We need more tourist business, more weekend visitors, big conventions, all the things we used to have."

The city hopes the momentum from the Superdome party will carry on into the fall.

The cruise industry, which generated about 2,800 jobs before Katrina, will return to the city in October.

Mary Beth Romig, public relations director for New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, said her office still gets calls from people wondering whether it's OK to breathe the air or eat the food.

"This weekend is affording us the kind of exposure we couldn't have gotten otherwise," she said.

The weekend is packed with events to draw the crowds.

Harrah's New Orleans Casino is opening its new hotel in anticipation of a tourism rebound, and concerts are scheduled at clubs throughout the city. One event with a charitable flavor is "Cocktails for Katrina," a soiree hosted by Saints quarterback Drew Brees and running back Deuce McAllister.

On Monday, a series of concerts is planned around the Superdome before the game. Downtown businesses are encouraged to release workers early in anticipation of big crowds and traffic congestion. Even City Hall plans to shut down early.

"We want people to enjoy all the great places the city has to offer, from the music clubs on Frenchman Street to the museums in the art district to the city's great restaurants," said Sandy Shilstone, president of the New Orleans Tourism and Marketing Corp.

"What they have done is what New Orleans does best — re-create the party atmosphere that always surrounds a big event in this city," said University of New Orleans chancellor and economist Tim Ryan. "Big events can be held anywhere, but no one throws that party better than we do. This will show the world we are ready to do it again."

Associated Press writer Chevel Johnson contributed to this report.