The Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance is hosting a rally in New Town on Saturday to garner citizen support for the tourism economy in the area.
Rally Day, hosted from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Gazebo in New Town, will show citizens, businesses and tourism partners the importance of travel and tourism to the area.
“I think this will be a fun but hopefully very informative and educational rally to get people out to learn more about the positive impact tourism has on the destination,” Alliance President and CEO Karen Riordan said.
About 11,000 jobs in the Historic Triangle are supported by tourists, according to a news release from the Alliance. Visitors to the area spend more than $1 billion per year, which is earned at a rate of about $3 million per day. Nationwide, tourism generates about $2.1 trillion. More than $39 million in tax revenue is generated by the area’s visitors.
Members of the tourism community were invited out to the event, including officials from Colonial Williamsburg, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the National Park Service, Busch Gardens, Water Country USA and elected officials from each of the three Historic Triangle localities.
The Alliance will distribute shopping bags for Shop Local Day – also taking place Saturday – and new bumper magnets that say “LOVE WMBG.” Each of the Historic Triangle localities are listed under the larger message.
A few larger prize packages will be given away to lucky winners at the rally. The package will include the makings of the “best vacation ever in your own backyard,” Riordan said. She hopes local citizens will be able to take advantage of the gifts.
The rally is one piece of a multi-event celebration of National Travel and Tourism Week, which runs from Saturday through May 11. The week was established by Congress in 1983 and was first celebrated the following year.
The Alliance is hosting a TripAdvisor seminar for regional travel and tourism businesses May 8, and Alliance staff will station themselves at the East Coast Gateway Welcome Center on Interstate 64 in New Kent on May 9 for a Traveler Meet-n-Greet.
Space for the TripAdvisor seminar is limited; guests interested in attending should email or call Corrina Ferguson for more information and to RSVP. Ferguson can be reached at 757-250-0196 or ferguson@visitwilliamsburg.com