SHERIDAN, WYOMING – Feb. 14, 2025 – The U.S. Travel Association has announced its comprehensive strategic priorities for 2025, focusing on establishing travel as essential and responsible, improving the travel experience, providing members with valuable opportunities, and building a best-in-class trade association. These priorities reflect the organization's commitment to capitalizing on the travel industry's vast potential while navigating the dynamic political landscape and effectively communicating its value.
Establishing Travel as Essential & Responsible
The U.S. Travel Association is laying the groundwork for a "Travel is Essential" campaign, which will involve benchmarking, testing, and refining key messages, along with developing compelling proof points for primary audiences. These messages will be disseminated throughout the industry and incorporated into all external-facing communications and events. The association will also equip its members with the necessary tools to champion the industry, including a one-stop-shop housing data, messaging, and other resources. A ‘Power of Travel’ product will be launched to demonstrate the multitude of benefits derived from travel promotion. Investment in Congressional champion development will be a key focus, with plans to conduct 25 reimagined Travel Works experiences and strengthen partnerships with state and local travel organizations. Furthermore, the association aims to position travel as a political asset by leveraging major events like the 2025 Ryder Cup, America250 in 2026, the 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympics. This will demonstrate the economic and diplomatic benefits of welcoming international travelers and secure government support for initiatives like reducing visa wait times and streamlining the Customs process. Finally, the U.S. Travel Association will strive to cement its position as the authority on travel matters by broadening media reach, expanding thought leadership engagement, and developing new tools to generate media interest.
Improving the Travel Experience From Point A to Point B
The association is committed to improving the travel experience by addressing key challenges in air and surface transportation. The Commission on Seamless and Secure Travel’s report will be released, establishing a transformative blueprint for the next decade of air travel. This vision will be brought to life through a dedicated microsite, compelling video, and other tactics. The U.S. Travel Association will also demonstrate consumer demand for an improved travel experience by investing in data, insights, testimonials, and partnerships. This will highlight the negative impact of inefficiencies and poor policy decisions on travel and economic growth, while illustrating the demand for solutions like biometric technology. For surface transportation, the association will determine the investments that could yield the greatest return for travel and initiate focus on a select set of priorities. Recognizing the increasing frequency of natural disasters, the U.S. Travel Association will develop a comprehensive disaster relief playbook to equip the travel industry with the tools and strategies needed for effective recovery and securing federal support.
Providing Members With Tangible, Meaningful Opportunities to Learn, Connect & Shape Business
The U.S. Travel Association is dedicated to providing maximum value to its members. For its top 200 members at the “Engage” level, new opportunities will be created to learn from cross-industry experts, share challenges, and identify business solutions. The association will also launch international and group travel segments, building an agenda, delivering expertise, and advancing industry priorities in these areas. Flagship events like IPW, ESTO, and the Summer Summit will be maximized to empower travel leaders. A comprehensive member communications strategy will be developed, creating content that better informs the travel industry. The association will also increase ROI for all members through new benefits around research and analysis, event discounts and savings, and policy insights. Membership growth will be a priority, with a targeted recruitment effort of large travel companies and exploration of scaling membership at the “Inform” level. Existing event offerings will evolve with a focus on innovation and strengthening member value, including the launch of a cruise pavilion and a reimagined sports presence at IPW.
Building a Best-in-Class Trade Association With an Eye Towards the Future
The U.S. Travel Association is committed to building a best-in-class trade association. This includes honing the U.S. Travel story by investing resources to articulate its unique value and developing content and user experience strategies for a new website and other materials in 2026. Cultivating a best-in-class team is also a priority, with a focus on continuous feedback, enhanced development opportunities, and seamless integration of new team members. The association will also pave the way for future organizational growth by championing innovation, data-driven decision-making, and new efficiencies. Key platform upgrades, resource alignment with strategic priorities, and responsible investment in long-term goals will be central to this effort. The association acknowledges the importance of building strong relationships with government leaders, empowering the industry to communicate effectively, implementing its new membership model, and developing a strong team to deliver value for members' investment. As stated by the U.S. Travel Association, "U.S. Travel exists to capitalize on the industry’s opportunities while addressing its most pressing challenges. Our long-term priorities are to: (1) establish travel as essential and responsible; (2) improve the travel experience; (3) provide members with opportunities to learn, connect and shape their business; and (4) build a best-in-class trade association.” These 2025 strategic priorities represent a significant step towards achieving these goals. For more information visit.