Following a challenging year for the travel and tourism industry, Visit Rochester is excited to recognize National Travel & Tourism Week, May 2-8, 2021. The theme of National Travel & Tourism Week this year is the Power of Travel, recognizing the role of the travel industry in bringing back our vibrant communities, restoring the U.S. economy and rebuilding our country’s workforce.
Visit Rochester, the official tourism promotion agency for Monroe County, will be recognizing National Travel & Tourism Week throughout the week with a number of activities.
The theme of 2021 National Travel & Tourism Week is Powered by Travel, and here in Monroe County the local tourism and hospitality industry is powered by our local tourism workforce. Prior to the pandemic, the tourism and hospitality industry in Monroe County powered nearly 20,000 jobs. To say thank you, Visit Rochester will be popping up at locations all around town to hand out local treats including Abbott’s Frozen Custard, Nick Tahou’s Garbage Plate passes and other treats and goodies to members of the local tourism workforce.
“National Travel & Tourism Week is a time to come together and recognize the vital role the tourism and hospitality industry plays in our local community and its impact on our economy,” said Don Jeffries, president & CEO, Visit Rochester. “After the challenges of the past year, we couldn’t be more excited to take time this week to express our appreciation and gratitude for the local tourism and hospitality workforce, while also encouraging our local residents to help in the recovery of the industry by inviting friends and family members to reconnect in Rochester this spring and summer.”
In addition to recognizing and showing gratitude to the local tourism and hospitality workforce, Visit Rochester will be encouraging future trips to the destination with social media promotion of trip ideas and reasons to visit to prospective travelers in key geographic target markets. Visit Rochester is also encouraging local residents to invite their friends and family to rediscover Rochester this spring and summer.
Prior to the pandemic the travel and tourism industry in Monroe County generated an economic impact of more than $1 billion in Monroe County alone, and an economic impact of $3.3 billion throughout the Finger Lakes region. While the coronavirus pandemic has had a detrimental impact on the industry as a whole, the industry is beginning to recover from the challenges of the past year. And as vaccination rates increase, more and more Americans are eager to once again travel. A recent traveler sentiment survey by Longwoods International shows that 87% of those surveyed have plans to travel in the next six months.
Recognizing the pent up demand for travel, Visit Rochester will be announcing a new regional tourism initiative in partnership with Visit Buffalo Niagara, Visit Syracuse and Visit Binghamton on Wednesday, May 5.
Visit Rochester will also soon be introducing a new eLearning frontline training program, designed to help frontline workers at hospitality and tourism businesses provide the best experience to visitors to our community. The new training will be a continuation of Visit Rochester’s “ROC Star” frontline training program, and will be fully digital, enabling employees to take this training from anywhere on their own time. The training program, dubbed “ROC Star 2.0,” is being developed in partnership with Rochester-based VantEdge E-Learning.
For more information on National Travel & Tourism Week activities, follow along with Visit Rochester on social media, @VisitRochester, or go to visitrochester.com.
About Visit Rochester
Visit Rochester is the official tourism promotion agency for Greater Rochester and Monroe County. Visit Rochester is a membership organization with over 400 members representing, lodging, retail, restaurants, services, and community organizations. Working together with our members and partners, our mission is to sell and market Greater Rochester as a preferred destination in order to grow and maximize visitor spending and to enhance the economy. To learn more go to visitrochester.com.
