Showing posts with label US Travel Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Travel Association. Show all posts

Project: Time Off

5/11/2016 Unknown
Last week, we wrote about the value of taking a vacation and the sad truth that many of us are not taking our vacation time. Well, there actually is a group of people that are trying to do something about changing that. Project: Time Off is the U.S. Travel Association's initiative to prove the value of taking time off for personal well-being, professional success, business performance, and economic expansion.


A Nation of Work Martyrs

Project: Time Off research shows that Americans are taking less vacation than at any point in the last forty years. From 1976 to 2000, workers used an average of 20.3 vacation days each year. From 2000 on that number continued to drop, reaching a low of 16 days used in 2014 - almost a full work week. If this trend continues, we'll be using less than a workweek of vacation in 20 years, and zero days by 2046.

According to Project: Time Off, Americans have become a nation of work martyrs, and that is keeping us from taking time off. We are overworked, stressed out, and exhausted, yet our culture encourages it by placing a stigma on vacationing. Though we realize that we should take a vacation, our workplace culture is shaped by fear and silence. Two-thirds (67%) of American employees, report either hearing nothing about vacation time, or negative or mixed messages from their managers about using vacation time. In addition, 58 percent of employees believe that our work culture stresses productivity over personal balance. 

Part of the martyrdom syndrome is how employees think about their work - they may think that no one else can do their job like they do; they may worry about jeopardizing their position - they don't want to look bad taking a vacation when others are not, or they may worry that when they're off, someone else may do their job better.


Small Changes May Lead to Big Results

Project: Time Off is leading a national movement to transform American attitudes with small changes. They suggest that with these small changes, we may be able to overcome our work martyrdom and break free from the culture of silence in the workplace. Try these out:

  • Spot the Symptoms 
Identify if you are a work martyr. Ask yourself - do you know you need a vacation, but are not letting yourself take one? Do you feel you are the only one who can do your job? Do you worry about others taking over for you? You should feel proud about a strong work ethic, but don't become a work martyr.

  • Plan your Vacation Days
As we mentioned in last week's blog, part of the fun is planning a vacation. It puts you in a good mood. Confirm your vacation days and schedule them. Bosses do believe in the benefits of vacationing too, and will appreciate you scheduling ahead of time and getting your vacation days on the calendar.

  • Show and Tell
When you get back from vacation, share with your coworkers how much fun you had and how good you feel. That way they will want to take their vacation too!


Managers Can Help 

Managers can improve the workplace culture by setting an example. They need to take their vacation time, encourage their employees to take their time off, give their employees the support they need when they take time off, and consider creating policies that more openly encourage employees to take vacation time.


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The U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Effect Initiative

4/16/2014 Unknown
The U.S. Travel Association - the voice of the U.S. travel industry - is on a mission. It wants to bring awareness of the benefits travel has on our productivity, organizational morale and our overall well-being. By promoting the benefits of travel through its website and its industry partners, such as ARDA (American Resort Development Association) the Travel Association wants to grow travel’s voice, advance pro-travel policies and communicate travel’s widespread impact.

Research Based

The information disseminated by Travel Effect is research based. Much of the research was gained from an online travel survey conducted between September and October 2013. The sample included 971 employees of various companies, 700 of whom receive paid time off as part of their employment benefits. Findings show that traveling is still not seen as an integral part of our lives, businesses and economy, but also show that when Americans do take time to travel there is a positive effect on their work productivity:
  • More than 3 in 4 HR professionals believe employees who use vacation time perform better than those who do not.
  • Six in ten organizations report employees fail to use 3+ days of paid vacation each year.
  • 85% of talent managers at “use it or lose it” organizations agree that employees who take time off are more productive in jobs.

With work done through Travel Effect, the Travel Association hopes to “change mindsets, shift American culture and motivate American workers to use more of their earned time off.”

Benefits of Travel 

Not only do the benefits of travel boost productivity and reduce burn-out. Travel has also been proven to increase creativity, and provide quality time and learning experiences that the entire family will benefit from. 
Other key findings from the study show the impact on our economy when Americans don’t use their vacation time to travel and what it would mean if they did use all their available paid time off:
  • The economy would benefit from more than $160 billion in total business sales and $21 billion in tax revenues, and from spending that would support 1.2 million jobs in retail, manufacturing and transportation industries.
  • It would mean an extra $73 billion in output for the U.S. economy, if employees would take just one additional day of earned leave each year.  

Website
Check out the Travel Effect’s website for the latest reports, fact sheets and infographics, on the economic, societal, business and personal impacts that travel can have on all of us.


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United States Actively Seeking Overseas Travelers

12/16/2010 JW
The United States doesn't attract nearly as many foreign travelers as it used to. And to try to address that, the U.S. government and travel industry have just announced the launch of the new Corporation for Travel Promotion.

Until now, each U.S. state has been responsible for attracting its own domestic and international tourists. The United States has never promoted itself to the world as a whole country.

"The U.S. never needed to until after the 9-11 attacks," says Geoff Freeman of the U.S. Travel Association. "Then international neighbors started feeling like they weren't wanted."

The U.S. has seen fewer overseas visitors in every year since September 11, 2001. And the decline in tourism has cost the country an estimated 18,000 jobs. The Corporation for Travel Promotion is trying to bring back those jobs.

A public and private partnership between the government and the tourism industry, the CTP board members include Mark Schwab, senior vice president-alliances, International and Regulatory Affairs, United Airlines; Al Weiss, president, worldwide operations, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; and Caroline Beteta, president and CEO, California Travel & Tourism Commission.

The group says one of its first tasks will be convincing international travelers that the U.S. is looking forward to seeing them, and every state needs the power of the U.S. brand to encourage people to visit.

“Even California does. Certainly Mississippi does, or Tennessee,” says Caroline Beteta, president of California's Travel & Tourism Commission, and now also the vice chairwoman of the CTP. "We need people to be thinking about America. If they're not thinking about America, they'll never consider California."

Each state is still going to promote itself and its iconic landmarks, and Beteta says the CTP will also promote those same icons to attract first-time visitors.
"In China and India, where it's a life dream for somebody to visit America, they're going to be more responsive to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and Las Vegas." But Beteta says the group plans to market all of the country — all the different experiences and food cultures that aren't as popular abroad. She calls it the "Undiscovered U.S."

The U.S. Travel Association's Freeman says getting Homeland Security to improve the visa system and create a more efficient and "friendly" entrance procedure will be the most challenging work for the CTP.

"We have to convince these leaders to embrace the idea that we can be the world's most secure country, while also being the world's most welcoming, while also being the world's most efficient, while also being a country that promotes commerce," Freeman said.

(Photo credit - greenpack.rec.org)
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