National Travel and Tourism 2017

National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) is the annual salute to travel and tourism in America and it just celebrated its 34th year on May 7-13. Tourism is a primary industry that works for America and the theme this year was Faces of Travel. Lawrence County Tourist Promotion Agency (TPA) participated by highlighting our local faces of travel and tourism.

The office was decorated and we were ready to celebrate travel and tourism week! We kicked off the celebration the week before on social media with giveaways. Each day a question was posted relating to Lawrence County and a fun fact – the lucky winner won a bag filled with prizes and information.  The five days during tourism week the first person to walk through our door won a bag!

Some of our members participated by giving us passes or coupons. The business who participated were; Mines and Meadows ATV/RV resort, OH WOW!, Pokeberry Exchange, Comfort Inn, Nova Destinations, Grill on the Hill and Back to the 50’s. Each bag also had TPA members rack card, license plate, statue of liberty, notecards, digi cleaner and magnets.

Who are the faces of travel and tourism in Lawrence County? It is you and everyone who lives in and visits our area. We all have ownership of tourism and it is up to us to share the good news.  Did you know that many of our businesses ship products across America? It’s true. Many people still come to our foodie town to pick up their favorites and take them back to their “now” homes. All businesses and customers are the faces of tourism.

During NTTW we took the opportunity to showcase our local faces of travel and tourism. For two weeks we posted photos of local businesses with a quote explaining what tourism means to them and their business. We also took this opportunity to introduce the TPA staff! Some examples were:

Rose Point Park: “ It’s more than getting away, it’s getting together”

Mines and Meadows “ Mines & Meadows ATV/RV Resort…. Ready to get dirty?”

Apple Castle: “Our home grown apples have been shipped & enjoyed all over the United States, even as far as Alaska”

How about our events and the folks who run those events? People come from near and far just to experience our local yearly traditions. When someone stays overnight in one of our lodging facilities they touch lives with those at the front desk or housekeeping! These interactions are what spark a visitor’s ideas for destination weddings and vacations in the future. Again, all faces of travel.

Our office participated on a regional/national level at the Keystone Welcome Center event (I-80) to promote Lawrence County! We handed out literature, coupons and local giveaways to travelers who stopped in.  We weren’t the only participating TPA either. Mercer County, Cooks Forest and a few local attractions were there to entertain travelers as well!

NTTW is also a great platform to educate the public about the importance of travel and tourism and the impact is has on U.S. economy. Did you know? 15.1M jobs are supported by travel and 1 out and 9 U.S. jobs depends on travel and tourism. Or 147.9B in tax revenue is generated by travel spending for federal, state and local governments.  Or that food is the number one for travel spending at $235.4B and lodging coming in at a close $194.8B. Once you add up food, lodging, transportation (auto and public), retail and recreation you are looking at an astounding $947.1B in visitors spending.

The end result – the travel and tourism industry is awesome. It creates jobs, generates money, is constantly growing and it gives visitors the ability to have fun and create memories!

To see the posts from NTTW visit our Pinterest page – VisitLawrenceCo

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