‘Travel Strengthens America’? Tourism promotion in the United States during the Second World War

Abstract

This article revisits common assumptions about domestic tourism in the United States during the Second World War by demonstrating that tourism's economic importance meant that government officials continued to pursue tourism promotion campaigns even after the United States entered the Second World War. Contemporary media coverage and historical analysis of Florida's wartime initiatives challenge the current consensus among historians which suggests that governments focused primarily on restricting travel opportunities in the United States. A detailed case study of Washington State offers a rare and perhaps unique opportunity to demonstrate the extent to which state and federal officials championed tourism's economic and psychological benefits while highlighting the degree to which regional competition continued to inform state officials’ response to wartime realities. In response to an awkward and unpredictable business climate, and ambiguous directives from the federal government, state officials embraced a flexible approach to tourism promotion that linked tourism with patriotism and endeavoured to sell tourist travel as a social and economic necessity.