NEW IBERIA, La. --- The Iberia Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau (IPCVB), the destination marketing organization for Iberia Parish, will observe National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) from May 1-7, 2022.
NTTW spotlights the contributions of the U.S. travel industry and the critical role that travel will play in driving economic growth and building the path forward through the theme Future of Travel.
This year’s theme elevates how the travel industry can restore the workforce, help communities recover, foster sustainability, usher in new innovations and reconnect travelers in the U.S. and around the world.
IPCVB is celebrating travel’s promising future by highlighting Iberia's Faces of Travel, our area's travel and hospitality employees and volunteers, on its social media platforms. To meet Iberia's Faces of Travel, visit
IberiaTravel.com and follow them on
Facebook and
Instagram.
In 2020, visitors spent $43.74 million in Iberia Parish, generating $3.31 million in state tax revenue and $1.68 million in local tax revenue, according to the Spending in Louisiana Parishes Report by the University of New Orleans Hospitality Research Center (May 2021).
So far this year, with the return of in person events, Iberia Parish occupancy tax collections are up 28 percent, the highest increase since COVID-19 began.
"With the pandemic wearing off, we’re adjusting to new travel habits for people, and destinations everywhere are learning what the future of tourism will look like," said Fran Thibodeaux, IPCVB's executive director. "Iberia Parish is fortunate that throughout the pandemic new tourism assets have flourished. It’s definitely a new day for the industry which we need to seize and commit to a plan that makes even more tourism development a priority."
Current tourism developments include Mayor Freddie Decourt's masterplan and new business ventures in downtown New Iberia, an upcoming Acadian Odyssey Monument in Loreauville and the expansion of the Delcambre Direct Seafood program.
IPCVB worked with St. Landry, St. Martin and St. Mary parish tourism bureaus to obtain a national designation by the federal Highway Administration for the Bayou Teche National Scenic Byway. The bureau also strives to help Iberia Parish bounce back stronger by promoting the destination through marketing programs and working with journalists to maintain a strong media presence, with recent mentions on CNN, Fox News, Southern Living, The Reader's Digest, Travel + Leisure, and Eat This Not That.
About National Travel and Tourism Week
Celebrated annually the first full week in May, NTTW was created by Congress in 1983 to elevate the economic power of travel in the U.S. The 39th annual NTTW arrives as the industry looks ahead to future growth and success following the challenges of the past two years.
“NTTW has special significance this year as the travel industry looks ahead to a bright future,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “This NTTW is an opportunity to recognize the collective strength of the U.S. travel industry and how we are rebuilding to be more dynamic, innovative, sustainable and inclusive in the months and years to come.
“Before the pandemic, travel generated $2.6 trillion in economic output, supported 17 million American jobs and delivered a $51 billion trade surplus to the U.S.—evidence of the outsized role the industry will play in driving America’s recovery and future economic growth,” added Dow.
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