In celebration of National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW), which takes place now through Friday, May 9, Visit Las Cruces will highlight the tourism industry in our community with a social media contest, fun facts, and travel-themed activities which will be released throughout the week on social media.

“This week (NTTW) is a time to celebrate all the local businesses and individuals who make Las Cruces a great destination and a wonderful place to live,” said Visit Las Cruces Executive Director Rochelle Miller-Hernandez. “Given the challenges facing our industry, it’s important to come together as a community and support one another so we can welcome back visitors when the time is right.”

In 2019, Las Cruces had more than 750,000 visitors who spent approximately $70 million in tourism-related expenses, according to data from the City of Las Cruces and the New Mexico Tourism Department. The data also showed that, on average, each visitor spent a total of $195 per day on tourism-related expenses such as lodging, food and beverage, retail, recreation and transportation.

As part of the nationwide celebration, Visit Las Cruces will post fun facts about the travel and tourism industry and travel-themed activities through the Visit Las Cruces Facebook and Twitter pages. Throughout the week, Visit Las Cruces will also be collecting and sharing some of the community’s favorite photos, memories, and experiences from past visits to Las Cruces.

In addition, Visit Las Cruces will host a social media contest on Facebook and Instagram, which will encourage users to comment about what local attraction or business they are most exited to visit in the future. Participants will then be entered into a random drawing for a Las Cruces prize pack.

“Since in-person events were not an option this year, we wanted to give the community an opportunity to share those memories and experiences that make Las Cruces such a special place for them,” Miller-Hernandez said. “We hope that during this unusual time, everyone can enjoy taking a trip down memory lane, or experiencing a virtual tour of Las Cruces, until we can once again welcome visitors with open arms.”

According to a 2019 study from Tourism Economics, New Mexico had more than 37.5 million visitors who spent approximately $7.1 billion in New Mexico in 2018. The study also found that visitor spending sustains 8.5 percent of all jobs in New Mexico, and that tourism generates $900 in state and local taxes for every household in New Mexico.

Celebrated annually the first full week in May, NTTW was created by Congress in 1983 to underscore the economic power of travel in the U.S. and celebrate the contributions of industry partners and professionals. This year’s theme, the Spirit of Travel, emphasizes the resilience and hope of the tourism and travel industry considering current circumstances.

“Through every hardship, I find myself in awe of the travel industry’s ability to join together, adapt, and emerge stronger than before,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “This is our toughest challenge yet, but what I’ve seen is that the spirit of travel has not been shattered.”

For more information about the week, visit https://www.ustravel.org/nttw or contact Paul Dahlgren at pdahlgren@las-cruces.org.