The Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce will present their annual “Excellence in Tourism” award on Wednesday, May 7th during a reception event commemorating National Travel and Tourism Week. The event will take place at noon at the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce office, 600 E. Depot Street in Brownwood.

The gathering amplifies the U.S. Travel Association’s multiyear campaign-known as Travel Effect-to prove the huge impact that travel and tourism has on communities, businesses and local, state and national economies.

“The numbers tell the story: Travel supports 14.9 million jobs across the nation, including many right here in Brown County,” said Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director Sunni Modawell. “Not only do the rally and National Travel and Tourism Week celebrate the benefits of travel in our community, but the monumental week also allows us to inform elected officials and local citizens about the industry’s true widespread effect in Texas and across America.”

Locally, the Travel Effect is especially significant with over 600 jobs supported by travel and tourism in Brown County.  Visitors spend over $50 million in each year in Brown County which generates over $1 million in sales tax revenue.

Across Texas, travel employs a diverse workforce, from hotel employees, to restaurant, attraction and retail workers, as well as supports employees in other industry sectors such as construction, manufacturing and finance.

In addition, travel promotes physical and physiological health and improves workplace productivity. In 2013, the average U.S. employee skipped 3.2 days of paid time off. According to a recent study, if workers used all of their available paid time off, the U.S. economy would gain $160 billion in additional annual business sales, which would support 1.2 million new jobs and generate $21 billion in new annual tax revenues. If employees would take just one additional day of earned leave each year, it would add $73 billion annually to the U.S. GDP.

This year, National Travel and Tourism Week is May 3-11.

For more information about local events, attractions and activities, go to VisitBrownwood.com or call the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce at 325-646-9535.