Why Travel Matters: National Travel and Tourism Week

The U.S. Travel Association, alongside all of us who work in the travel industry, are celebrating the 36th annual National Travel and Tourism Week. This year’s theme, “Travel Matters,” encourages us to examine how travel contributes to our economy, our communities, our jobs, our personal health, and much more.

According to the U.S. Travel Association, the travel industry creates and supports 15.7 million jobs across the U.S. and generated $2.5 trillion for the U.S. economy in 2018.

But, as we all know, travel isn’t just important to the economy — it’s important for our well being. In fact, there is even a National Plan for Vacation Day each year, set aside to encourage Americans to use their vacation time (because Americans have a habit of leaving a lot of it unused).

Travel also matters for creating new experiences. An Expedia Group study found that the majority of Americans would rather spend money on experiences over possessions. Exploring culture and new places is important to American travelers. We explored this further in our American Multi-Generational Study, which showed that activities, once in a lifetime experiences, and cultural experiences are top priority when choosing a vacation.

We also see this firsthand as travel marketers. We work closely with destinations, hotels, and other brands to help them showcase their unique culture and the activities and experiences they can offer travelers. Here are some examples of campaigns that do just that.

DiscoverMoreTexas
In collaboration with Travel Texas and Proof Advertising, we created Discover More Texas a campaign that encourages U.S. travelers to take a virtual road trip across Texas to uncover and experience the unexpected side of Texas’ cuisine, landscape, culture and city experiences.

betterbythebeach

The San Diego Tourism Authority wanted potential travelers to see all that the beach destination had to offer and increase perception of San Diego as more than a beach destination. To highlight the experiences and activities San Diego has to offer, we launched Better by the Beach, a bespoke creative campaign that drives awareness, inspiration, and consideration of the destination.

This week serves as a great reminder to think about how travel really matters – how it enriches our lives, bolsters our communities, and boosts our economy. To stay up to date on how we are working to support travel and tourism, by subscribing to our newsletter.

Monya Mandich

Vice President, Media Solutions Marketing

Monya Mandich is the VP, Marketing of Expedia Group Media Solutions and oversees all integrated marketing and communications activities for the brand. In her role, she is responsible for raising awareness of digital media opportunities for partners across the Expedia Group suite of leading global travel brands. With nearly two decades of experience, she evangelizes a thought leadership approach both externally and internally centered on data-driven insights, which has resulted in travel and marketing industry recognition and accolades. Monya previously managed strategic partnership development, executing strategies for top-tier partnerships, maximizing traffic and revenue for Expedia.com. She started her career in the travel space at VacationSpot.com, where she ran the B2B marketing and customer acquisition efforts for the vacation rental booking site. Monya is on the board of directors for Destinations International and the U.S. Travel, and also participates on the advisory committee for U.S. Travel's Project: Time Off, which aims to shift thinking around the health, business and economic value of personal time off, Monya was also recognized as one of HSMAI’s Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing. She is a graduate of Western Washington University and lives in the Seattle area with her family.

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