Agenda - 05-04-2006-6b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Background on the IIistory of National Tourism Week The 2006Celebration and Message: The 23rd Annual National Tourism Week will be celebrated May 13-21, 2006, National Tourism Week is sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America, Hundreds of cities and towns across the national promote greater public awareness of the powerful economic, social, and cultural impacts of travel and tourism through local events and celebrations. National Tourism Week is the opportunity to emphasize and promote a wider understanding of the importance of travel and tourism as a major U. S. industry that is vital to the economic stability and growth of the nation ($599 billion direct travel expenditures and 7..3 million direct travel-generated jobs).. Tourism Works for America. The History: National Tourism Week was established in 1983, when the U.S. Congress passed a ,joint resolution designating the week to be celebrated in May 1984,. In a White House Ceremony, President Ronald Reagan signed a Presidential Proclamation urging citizens to observe the week with "the appropriate ceremonies and activities," Industry leaders and public relations professionals from the major travel and tourism trade associations were the first volunteers to manage the annual event. By 1986 industry leaders had formed a permanent coalition, which later became the Tourism Works for America Council. They opened a full time office and expanded the concept into ayear-round tourism awareness program. By then hundreds of communities across the nation were participating in the celebration and more participate each year. In 1998, the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) accepted responsibility for and absorbed all Tourism Works for America activities. Today this premier public advocacy program represents the single TIA activity that helps both members and non-members push tourism awareness to its most basic level-the grassroots. In Orange County: The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board is again looking to increase awareness of'the impact of tourism with local residents through a National Tourism Week Promotion. The plan includes requesting the Orange County Board of Commissioners to proclaim the week of May 13-21, 2006 as National Tourism Week. The Bureau plans again to partner with a local newspaper to create a one or two-page spread devoted to promoting the impact of visitors on our area and to encourage local residents to be tourists in Orange County. New this year, the Bureau is working with WCIIL Radio on a tourism promotion radio campaign and our updated bureau website www,chocvb.org will have a Tourism Week section. Finally, visit the Visitors Center at 501 W. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill for tourism week postcards and a box of mints highlighting the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough,