It's National Travel and Tourism Week!
National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) is an annual tradition established in 1983 to celebrate the U.S. travel community and travel’s essential role in stimulating economic growth, cultivating vibrant communities, creating quality job opportunities, inspiring new businesses and elevating the quality of life for Americans every day.
In Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish ranks as the 4th highest parish in spending produced by visitors, employment, earnings and government revenue from state and local taxes.
The latest numbers provided by Visit The Northshore showcase the strong impact of travel. In 2022, St. Tammany’s destination marketing delivered 2.9 million visitors annually, 11,500 St. Tammany jobs, and $1.02 billion in annual visitor spending.
If it were not for the state and local taxes paid by tourists visiting St. Tammany, each St. Tammany family would pay an additional $1,128 per year in taxes to maintain current services.
Travel is essential to every state and countless destinations across the nation, just like here in St. Tammany Parish. Travel is an industry that powers our economy and connects our country.
TRAVEL. Powering the Economy. Connecting America.
National Travel and Tourism Week celebrates the industry’s critical role in powering our nation’s economy, communities and connections. Travel is a $2.6 trillion industry that supports nearly 15 million American jobs while fueling other important industries like manufacturing, health care and agriculture—all which depend on travel to generate business, spur innovation and support education.
The travel industry is essential to America’s success—it is an economic powerhouse that unites people, benefits society and is paramount to the United States’ global competitiveness.
Join us May 19-25 in celebrating National Travel and Tourism Week and help highlight our industry’s undeniable impact! Travel matters to Visit The Northshore. #NTTW24
Celebrating our Successes in Promoting Louisiana's Easy Escape.
Our mission is to market and promote St. Tammany Parish as a highly desirable destination for visitors, thereby increasing the economic impact of tourism on the area. Our passion is telling the stories of Louisiana's easy escape--and it's getting noticed.
The Louisiana Travel Association has recognized the Visit The Northshore team with numerous awards over the years, including Outstanding Convention and Visitors Bureau/Tourist Commission of the Year in 2022, 2019 and 2011. In 2023, the Association recognized our staff:
- President and CEO Donna O'Daniels received the Marion "Butch" Fox Advocacy Award, which is awarded to a member of the Louisiana travel community who shows commitment to statewide causes, speaks up for the industry and advocates on all issues of importance to further the economic growth of travel in Louisiana.
- Chief Marketing Officer Katie Guasco received the Victor Profis Travel Media Award, which goes to the media organization or representative that goes the extra mile to give the state, region and/or tourism entity value beyond purchased advertising through editorial content, online presence or other forms of partnership.
- Communications Manager Erica Glory was awarded the Rising Star of the Year, which is presented to an up-and-coming professional in the tourism industry who has demonstrated qualities of leadership, entrepreneurship and creativity.
Visit The Northshore staff
International Recognition
In 2023, the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) recognized the Fall/Winter ‘22 issue of our Explore The Northshore visitor guide with the Gold Award for Best Visitors’ Guide in their 31st annual awards competition.
The competition honors the best of the best in travel journalism, photography and destination marketing that cover all aspects of the travel industry in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. This was the first Gold win for the St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission after taking home the Bronze award for the magazine in 2020.
Explore is published by Southern Luxury Publishing. Said its President and Group Publisher, Adam Pitluk, PhD, "This award signals to the rest of the country what’s been known on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain for over a decade: St. Tammany Parish has it going on, and in a major way.”
Click image above to read our award-winning issue online. See all past editions here.
Order your free copy of the current Explore guide, or view online, by clicking here.
