Travel and Tourism Rally

The Mobile Bay tourism and hospitality industry will join cities throughout the country to celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week, an event designed to bring awareness to and applaud the economic impact of this vital industry. Locally, the Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau will celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week with a Travel Rally that will be held on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. in Cathedral Square in downtown Mobile.

The Travel Rally will include a performance by the LeFlore High School Mighty Marching Rattler Band as well as appearances by Mobile ambassadors and mascots such as the Azalea Trail Maids, Teddy from the Mobile BayBears, Chief Slacabamorinico, the Oakleigh Belles, MoonPie Man, the USS ALABAMA Crew Mates and the University of South Alabama Cheerleaders. Mobile Mayor Sam Jones and former Mobile Mayor Mike Dow will address the crowd.

Following the rally, you're invited to enjoy lunch in downtown Mobile. Several restaurants in the area will be offering specials and discounts for those wearing Travel Rally buttons.

National Travel & Tourism Week was first celebrated in 1984 and was established as a way to celebrate the economic impact of the travel industry on the local, regional and national levels. In 2010, there were more than 14 million jobs and the $1.8 trillion in spending nationally that was a direct or indirect result of the travel industry.

The local tourism industry also makes quite an impact on the Mobile area’s economy. In 2009, 15,000 people were employed as a result of the travel industry in Mobile and there were 2.4 million visitors reported annually. Also that year, spending on travel-related expenditures totaled $850 million and lodging taxes collected summed $3 million for the city of Mobile and $1.8 million for Mobile County.

For more information on Mobile Bay’s National Travel & Tourism Week, visit www.mobilebay.org or call 1-800-5-MOBILE. More information on the national celebration of the event can be found at http://www.ustravel.org/marketing/national-travel-and-tourism-week .