Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau The Official Destination Sales and Marketing Organization of Dalton and Whitfield County, Georgia NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK MAY 10- 18 25TH ANNUAL NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK CHAMPIONS NATION’S $740 BILLION TRAVEL INDUSTRY Silver anniversary theme encourages travelers to “Discover Great American Traditions” HAPPENING NOW! COMING SOON! UFA Fast Pitch Softball June 28-29 Heritage Point Park Dalton, Georgia USSSA Baseball Tournament May 30 - June 1, 2008 Heritage Point Park Dalton, Georgia Dalton Events >font color="darkblue">To request information on the new S.T.A.R program please email your mailing address to info@VisitDaltonGA.com Dalton, GA joins hundreds of cities, states and travel-related businesses nationwide in recognition of the 25th annual National Tourism Week, to be held May 10-18. Designated by Congress and established by presidential proclamation in 1983, the event celebrates the value and scope of the nation’s $740 billion travel and tourism industry, and the economic and social contributions it brings to the Dalton Area. National Tourism Week is sponsored annually by the Travel Industry Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association that represents the common interests and concerns of travel in America. This year’s theme, “Discover Great American Traditions,” encourages travel to American locales and highlights the role that tourism plays in discovering the icons of a destination. “Hotels and meeting facilities, attractions, restaurants, shopping and transportation providers are among the local businesses greatly impacted by travel to the Dalton Area,” said Margaret Thigpen, Executive Director for the Dalton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This industry employees 1.54 thousand people, generates tax revenues of $8.65 million for the Dalton Area and touches our community in countless other ways. Travel expenditures within Whitfield County totals 127.63 million. In Dalton, GA, this week celebrates the people who visit here, the workforce that provides service for them and the development created as a result.” Nationwide, the U.S. travel industry directly employees 7.5 million people, generates payroll of $178 billion and tax revenues of about $110 billion. TIA ranks travel fifth among 20 major private industry sectors. Visitors to the U.S. spent more here than U.S. residents traveling abroad, creating a positive balance of trade of $8.3 billion for the national economy. Travel expenditures within the United States total $740 billion. Please join The Dalton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Dalton Hospitality Association at a press conference with reception immediately following Tuesday, May 13th, 10:00 am at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center to celebrate Tourism Week, the Tourism Local Economic impact, S.T.A.R. program and honor a veteran of the Dalton Area hospitality community.