Columbia Regional Visitors Center Celebrates 25th Annual National Tourism Week With Week Long Events

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CONTACT:
Nicole D. Smith
Media Relations Director
803.545.0011
nsmith@columbiaauthority.com

Columbia Regional Visitors Center Celebrates 25th Annual National Tourism Week With Week Long Events
Silver anniversary theme encourages travelers to "Discover Great American Traditions"

Columbia, SC - (April 14, 2008) The Columbia Regional Visitors Center (CRVC) 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 Columbia, SC.

In celebrating the industry and its impact on the community, the CRVC has scheduled many events for National Tourism Week. The schedule is as follows:

Monday:
Grits Competition & "The Chicken Man" artist, Ernest Lee painting his "funky chickens" and other artwork at the visitors center located at 1101 Lincoln Street.

Tuesday:
Ghosts & Legends will sponsor a historic downtown walking tour. Beginning at the State House, the tour will begin at 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday:
Cab Driver Appreciation, the CRVC is asking cab drivers working between the hours of 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. to stop by the visitors center for a boxed lunch

Thursday:
Family Day at Fort Jackson. The CRVC welcomes visitors from all over the country to Columbia by providing them with brochures on places to see and do.

Friday:
Columbia Carriage Works will be providing carriage tours of the Vista for $10 from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The Carriage will be located at the visitors center.

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.

Ric Luber, president/CEO of the Midlands Authority for Conventions, Sports & Tourism states, "Hotels and meeting facilities, attractions, restaurants and transportation providers are among the local businesses greatly impacted by travel to Columbia, SC. More than 10% of employment is generated by travel and tourism; it generates $16.7 billion a year in total economic demand for our state and touches our community in countless other ways. This week in Columbia we will celebrate 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.

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.

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