Travel’s Positive Impact: Social and Economic

With the U.S. travel market being a 5.6 billion dollar industry, impacting more than 3 million students a year, both the social and economic benefits of student travel has a widespread reach.

Travel is inherently educational! Students carry with them the memories of their travels, preparing them not only for their higher education, but also for their professional lives and beyond. Ask any student traveler and they’ll likely tell you that these adventures broadened their worldview and provided different perspectives necessary to learn and grow—a message that should be shared. With ties to social studies, economics and history, the lessons learned are an integral component in any student’s education.

According to a U.S. Travel Association study, the contributions of the travel market are also essential to ensuring thriving economic development:

Travel Impacts Communities Across America
Investing in tourism promotion stimulates visitor demand, which in turn generates tax revenue benefiting local residents. Lawmakers and community leaders who understand and invest in the value of travel are able to reduce the tax burden on their constituents and are in a more favorable financial position to fund essential services that make their communities stronger.

Destinations Create a Sense of Place and Pride for Residents
The residents of a community are at heart the decision-makers––their opinions matter. Residents who take pride in their community are valuable advocates for its storytelling, serving as a trusted resource to friends and family and other potential visitors.

Destination Marketers are Small Business Champions
Small businesses make a destination unique, vibrant and more attractive to visitors. Not only is travel a significant part of the small business community, travel promotion can stimulate small business growth by generating visitor demand.

Destination Marketers Build Bridges to Rural Communities
Destination marketing organizations are champions of rural regions, shining a spotlight on places that may be otherwise overlooked by visitors and invigorating economies of underserved areas.

View the entire study at U.S. Travel Association.