The U.S. Travel Association’s National Plan for Vacation Day is being heartily supported by tourism marketing agency NYC & Company, which has curated events, travel planning tips and a guide to New York City for vacation deprived consumers.
In its second year, it is part of Project Time: Off, an initiative by the U.S. Travel Association to get more Americans to make use of their paid vacation days.
"We as Americans do not take enough time off. Unfortunately we do need a project to tell people to take time off. Americans leave on the table over 659 million paid vacation days. They let them go unused every year," said TV travel show host Samantha Brown, a spokeswoman for the project.
Research for Project Time: Off found less than half of workers with paid time off plan their vacations out for the year.
With a message to stop procrastinating and start planning, NYC & Company has highlighted the Big Apple’s landmark events through the year as the ideal impetus to start to plan vacations.
"It starts with each of us encouraging our friends, family and colleagues to schedule and take the entirety of their vacation. Internally, we encourage our entire staff to take their allotted time off, through initiatives including a PTO planning party, scheduled for January 30, 2018," said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company.
The agency is showcasing New York Fashion Week, Black History Month and the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade during the first quarter, along with sporting breaks to catch the Yankees and Mets season openers in April, New York Liberty WNBA games and the TD Five Boro Bike Tour in May.
A full list of events is at the nycgo.com website along with trip planning tools for consumers.
"America’s vacation deprivation short changes the time we invest in our personal relationships, undermines our performance at work and threatens our economic well-being. In 2018, Americans need to plan for their bucket list, instead of the to-do list," said Katie Denis, chief of research and strategy for Project: Time Off.
Project: Time Off estimates lost travel spending due to so many unused vacation days cost the economy about $236 billion in 2016.
