National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW), now in its 34th year, is the annual salute to travel in America spearheaded by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA). Travel is an industry that not only is an indispensable source of American jobs, but is one of the strongest, bringing in $2.3 trillion for the U.S. economy, as reported by the USTA. The U.S. travel industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has recovered far faster than other economic sectors since 2008. Spending by travelers everywhere in the U.S., which currently totals over $947 billion annually, supports 15.3 million American jobs. That’s one in nine Americans whose employment depends upon plenty of travelers visiting and exploring the U.S.
Many of our U.S. marketing partners share a similar goal, to reach and engage travelers and often to drive travel and tourism. By creating digital marketing campaigns for brands and destinations across our global network of Expedia Inc. brands, we reach an active network of travelers to bring this objective to reality. In celebration of NNTW, we want to share a ‘Face’ of our Expedia Media Solutions team who created an award-winning campaign with a significant partner to drive awareness and tourism in the U.S.
Damon Fairchild: Discover Your Aloha with The Hawai’i Tourism Authority (HTA)
Damon is based in Hawai’i and manages our relationships and campaigns with travel brands and destinations across the state. Last year, Damon worked with the Hawai’i Tourism Authority to create the ‘Discover Your Aloha’ campaign, to drive travel to the Hawaiian Islands and reach a millennial audience through cutting-edge technology. The highly innovative campaign features drone footage and facial recognition software to create an interactive and customized online experience that showcases the unique people, culture and geography of the Hawaiian Islands. Users can then book a personalized Hawai’i vacation package based on their custom itinerary and explore content to learn more about the wide range of activities available. The campaign has gained multiple industry recognitions, including winning the Digiday Content Marketing Award for “Most Innovative Use of Content,” and named an honoree in the Webby Awards. For more, read our blog post about this campaign.
There are so many faces that make up our team and the travel industry in general, who we can all take a moment this year during NTTW to celebrate. We are proud to support and celebrate the importance of the travel industry as a primary driver in the U.S. economy and a significant part of our daily lives. To hear more from us about how we are working to support tourism, subscribe to our blog above.
