Happy National Travel & Tourism Week

Bison roam Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Dennis Cox/WorldViews

National Travel & Tourism Week, which runs this year from May 7-13, is a time to celebrate the impact that travel and tourism have on the U.S. economy.

And it’s huge. According to the U.S. Travel Association:

• In 2016, domestic and international travelers spent a combined $683 billion on leisure travel in the U.S.  When you add in business travelers, the total is almost $1 trillion — some $31,500 spent  per second.
• That same trillion-dollar spending generated $2.3 trillion in total economic output in the U.S., factoring in an additional $1.3 trillion spurred in other industries, such as retail.
• The travel industry supports 15.3 million American  jobs — 8.6 million directly in the travel industry and 6.7 million in other industries.
• One of every nine jobs in the U.S. is dependent on the… Continue reading →