National Travel and Tourism Week, (NTTW) the annual celebration of the contributions of the U.S. travel industry, will spotlight the essential role that travel will play in driving economic growth and innovation through the theme #TravelForward.

“The travel industry fuels every industry—our industry’s success is the nation’s success,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. “This week is a prime opportunity to elevate the message that travel is essential to moving America’s economy forward.”

Established in 1983, NTTW is an annual tradition to mark the U.S. travel industry’s role in stimulating economic growth, cultivating vibrant communities, creating quality job opportunities, stimulating business activity and elevating the quality of life for everyday Americans.

Travel serves as a catalyst for a productive U.S. economy and helps power the success of other industries. The U.S. travel industry generated a $2.6 trillion economic output in 2022 and supported 15 million jobs, fueling communities, small businesses and working families across the country.

Travel spending also generated nearly $160 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022—revenue that helped fund critical public services while saving each U.S. household an average of $1,270 in taxes.

Discover Downstate Illinois is the destination marketing organization for 21 counties in the southern portion of the state, and the travel industry drives hundreds of millions of dollars to this region alone.

To celebrate the week, Discover Downstate Illinois will be making trips to several travel information centers across the state of Illinois to greet visitors and inform them of the many great things that this region of the state has to offer.

“Downstate Illinois is rich with unique opportunities that many folks simply aren’t aware of,” says Andy Waterman, Communications Director with Discover Downstate Illinois. “One morning you could be feeding camels at Rainbow Ranch Petting Zoo in Nashville, that afternoon you could be building sandcastles at Carlyle Lake Beach, and that same evening you could be enjoying the view from atop the World’s Largest Mailbox in Casey. We also have several annual events like the Du Quoin State Fair, Centralia Balloon Fest, and the NASCAR Cup Series Race at World Wide Technology Raceway that attract hundreds of thousands of people to our area,” Waterman adds. “This National Travel and Tourism Week, we are proud to celebrate all that travel does for our community now, and all that it will contribute in the future.”

Please visit ustravel.org/NTTW to learn more about National Travel and Tourism Week.