Localities have a good time tourism week, journey spending down $500 billion

Each May, tourism offices across the country celebrate the contributions of the U.S. travel industry during National Travel and Tourism Week, May 2-8, 2021. Last year tourism was decimated by the global pandemic. Therefore, today it is more important than ever to recognize the power of the travel industry, which is vital to the recovery of the Northern Virginia region.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel and tourism industries made a significant contribution to the U.S. economy, helping millions of hardworking Americans of all backgrounds. The impact of the pandemic on this industry has been devastating: more jobs lost than any other industry, most small business closures, and the biggest drop in tax revenues as a result of those losses. According to the US Travel Association, travel expenses fell by nearly $ 500 billion, which cost the US economy $ 1.1 trillion – 10 times the economic impact of September 11th.

More than a decade ago, the five Northern Virginia destinations came together to form the Northern Virginia Tourism Partnership (NVTP). This region, which includes Alexandria and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William, accounts for about 41 percent of the total tourism economy of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Members of the NVTP have come together to strengthen the economic position of their community and to harness the power of regional cooperation.

“During this pandemic, we have seen firsthand how detrimental a slump in tourism and travel is to our economy,” said Patricia Washington, president of the Northern Virginia Tourism Partnership. “As intent to travel continues to grow, we realize that now is a crucial time to accelerate our recovery efforts and promote Northern Virginia as a premier travel destination.”

This group of destination marketing professionals will use their years of strategic marketing, branding, management, communication, marketing, sales, visitor engagement and passion experience to increase the visibility of their communities and welcome visitors back this year who come to the The region’s economic recovery is the key to success. Working with Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), the NVTP will launch several new initiatives that encourage people to plan travel in a safe and healthy way. Visitors bring new money into the economy, let cash registers ring and hotel rooms sell out. One visitor experience can touch dozens of tourism professions and have a positive impact on the region’s economy.