Proclamation 5768—National Tourism Week, 1988

Every year, millions of Americans and visitors from abroad travel throughout our country to see for themselves the beauty of our land, the hospitality of our people, and the record of our history. They discover the glory and story of America, the evidence and the experience of all the hard-won freedom, justice, and opportunity we and our ancestors have cherished and preserved. National Tourism Week fittingly celebrates tourists, travelers, and those who earn their livelihood by serving them.

Travel and tourism offer countless benefits for Americans and for our guests from other lands, including domestic friendship and international goodwill, enhanced communication and cooperation, and the chance to view and visit natural wonders of limitless variety, city and countryside, and outstanding cultural events. Our comprehensive services and accommodations make U.S. travel and tourism the first choice of world travelers and the world's best buy for the travel dollar.

The travel and tourism industry, once small, is now our third-largest retail trade and second-largest employer. The travel industry directly or indirectly supports nearly seven million jobs and generates some $292 billion in receipts, or 6.4 percent of our gross national product. Internationally, tourism now is the largest business export among America's service industries; it contributes more than $19 billion annually to our balance of trade.

National Tourism Week reminds us not only of the economic, educational, and recreational benefits of travel and tourism but also of the warm and wide welcome that Americans traditionally and gladly offer to neighbors from near and far.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-214, has designated the week beginning the third Sunday in May 1988 as "National Tourism Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this week.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning May 15, 1988, as National Tourism Week. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.

RONALD REAGAN