National Travel & Tourism Week 2023: Visit Baltimore Moves Travel Forward This National Travel and Tourism Week
Baltimore, MD — Visit Baltimore, the official destination sales and marketing organization for Baltimore, is pleased to participate in National Travel & Tourism Week (NTTW) May 7-13. This year, the 40th Annual celebration will spotlight the tourism industry’s role in stimulating economic growth, cultivating diverse communities, creating fresh job opportunities, inspiring new businesses and uniting millions of Americans through travel.
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.
“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.”
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.
“Through NTTW, we are highlighting how travel benefits our workforce, contributes to the economy, and impacts our local community,” said Al Hutchinson, President and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “With the full return of events and in-person meetings, our tourism industry continues to move our economy forward by bringing in dollars to hotels, restaurants and local businesses. We are proud to report that total visitor spending in Baltimore increased by 39% in 2022, bringing in $3.7 billion to Baltimore’s economy according to recently released data by Longwoods International.”
Visit Baltimore will celebrate NTTW with several signature events with the goal of highlighting tourism’s role in our local economy, including a Tourism Town Hall forum taking place on Tuesday, May 9th at the Baltimore Visitor Center; a Regional Hospitality Industry Meet-up on Thursday, May 11 at Guinness Open Gate Brewery; and a Central Avenue block party featuring local hospitality partners and discounts on Saturday, May 13 at 400 S. Central Ave.
To engage Baltimore City’s hospitality students, Visit Baltimore will host the 2nd Annual Cooking Competition & Networking event on Wednesday, May 10 at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore to showcase opportunities within the State’s hospitality workforce. In addition to the cooking competition, the event will include tours of local hospitality entities including the Baltimore Visitor Center and Watermark Cruises; along with a professional etiquette luncheon at the Baltimore Convention Center Presented by Sodexo Live!.
A full list of events is available at baltimore.org/national-travel-tourism-week/.
In addition to events, the U.S. Travel Association will bring its truck to the National Aquarium for a National Travel and Tourism Week Photo opportunity. Please visit ustravel.org/NTTW to learn more about National Travel and Tourism Week.
About Visit Baltimore
Visit Baltimore is the official sales and marketing arm for the City of Baltimore. The 501(c)(6) non-profit organization generates economic benefits for stakeholders through the attraction of convention, group and leisure visitors. In 2022, 26.7 million people visited Baltimore for overnight and day trips spending a total of $3.7 billion to Baltimore’s economy. For more information, please visit Baltimore.org.