Washington DC Event

May 9 through May 17 is National Travel and Tourism Week! The U.S. Travel Association wants meeting professionals like you to participate in this "annual salute to the power of travel."

One of its big initiatives is the U.S. Travel Rally Day, held Tuesday, May 12. Described as "a bold and concreted effort to represent how travel fuels jobs and economies," the initiative has already received commitments from over 25 convention and visitors bureaus across the nation, including Boston, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle and Washington, DC.

The Spokane Regional CVB held such a rally in early March. Put together in just two days, the CVB spent $781 to hire a photographer, pay for audio-visual equipment, make 300 Meetings Mean Business buttons, and print a dozen large signs. Their efforts resulted in 200 event attendees, national, regional and local media coverage, and $86,507 in direct media equivalency. Pretty impressive!

If you want to participate, check out USTA's toolkit. It offers tips for a successful rally, sample press releases, sample invitations to rally participants, and other handy documents.