Louisville Celebrates Kentucky Derby Success During National Travel & Tourism Week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 5, 2025) – As destinations across the country commemorate National Travel & Tourism Week (NTTW), Louisville is fresh off celebrating another historic Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Derby Festival. The annual tourism week is timely, paying tribute to the city’s hospitality workforce, whose dedication and hard work help the city shine annually for over 250,000 visitors.

Tourism is the third largest industry in Louisville, supporting 70,000 hospitality-related jobs while contributing an estimated $4.2 billion to our local economy. Tourism also creates over $300 million in state and local tax revenue, saving each household in Louisville an average of $564 dollars on their state and local tax bill.

“Tourism is a cornerstone of Louisville's economy, and our hospitality workforce plays a crucial role in making Louisville a welcoming and vibrant destination for visitors from around the world, said Cleo Battle, Louisville Tourism President & CEO. “The resulting economic benefits of tourism are profound, contributing billions to our local economy and supporting thousands of jobs that enhance the quality of life for our residents."

Established in 1983, NTTW is an annual tradition to celebrate the U.S. travel community and travel’s essential role in stimulating economic growth, cultivating vibrant communities, creating quality job opportunities, inspiring new businesses and elevating the quality of life for Americans every day.

Louisville’s NTTW recognition is twofold – supporting and building the area’s hospitality workforce opportunities while simultaneously inspiring travel to Bourbon City. Louisville currently has about 70,000 local tourism-related jobs. Local careers in the hospitality industry will continue to be in high demand as Louisville keeps pacing toward the destination’s goal of hosting 25 million visitors by 2030.

Louisville Tourism maintains a hospitality-focused job portal that can be accessed at gotolouisville.com/jobs to connect employers with job seekers. Hospitality positions across the city vary, offering the opportunity to use a myriad of skill sets including customer service, operations, finance, culinary and sales positions. Employers who have positions to post can use the portal to submit details about openings, including part-time and internships.

To celebrate the week, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear recorded this video and the Louisville Visitor Center is engaging in special programming including sidewalk sales, culinary bites and a Bourbon tasting on May 9 from .