Flagler County’s tourism office – Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches – will celebrate this year’s National Travel and Tourism Week (May 2-8) with salute to local industry employees who work so hard year round to make visitors’ experiences memorable.
This year’s theme emphasizes the “Power of Travel,” and Tourism Executive Director Amy Lukasik could think of no better tribute than to honor tourism and hospitality employees, frontline workers, with a small travel bag with a branded luggage tag, and a variety of goodies.
“Our office felt it was important to direct all our efforts to thank the folks that show up day in and day out to service our visitors,” Lukasik said. “Flagler County received a very high customer service satisfaction rating – a 9.1 out of 10 – from visitors who were polled in 2020.”
The Tourism Office also coordinated with the City of Flagler Beach to have message boards at the bridge with an acknowledgement to tourism and hospitality workers.
“Despite the hardships of the last year, Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches is ready and eager to welcome back visitors and help drive Flagler County’s recovery efforts,” Lukasik said. “National Travel and Tourism Week is an opportunity to remind residents and visitors of the incredible contributions of the travel industry not just to our local economy and workforce, but to our community’s identity and culture.”
Travel and tourism significantly affects the economy of Flagler County, supporting over 5,000 jobs in 2020, generating over $4 million in economic impact by visitor spending and bringing in over $2.3 million in revenue solely from the bed tax in 2020.
National Travel and Tourism Week, the annual celebration of the contributions of the U.S. travel industry, will spotlight the critical role that travel will play in driving economic recovery efforts and building the path forward.
Celebrated annually the first full week in May, National Travel and Tourism Week was created by Congress in 1983 to elevate the economic power of travel in the U.S. The 38th annual celebration arrives at an opportune moment to recognize the importance to the U.S. economy of initiating a post-pandemic travel recovery.
“National Travel and Tourism Week takes on a special significance this year as the travel industry looks to rebound quickly from the pandemic and accelerate recovery efforts,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “The past year was incredibly challenging, but we saw the full power of the travel industry on display in the way we united and supported one another through this crisis.”
Before the pandemic, travel generated $2.6 trillion in economic output, supported 17 million American jobs and delivered a $51 billion trade surplus to the U.S. – evidence of the outsized role the industry will play in America’s broader economic recovery, according to Dow.
Visit www.ustravel.org/NTTW to learn more about National Travel and Tourism Week.
Media Release: Flagler County, Julie Murphy MPIO
