(Customize the press release template provided below to get the word out to local media about www.katrinajobs.org and how the entire industry can help victims displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Just put your destination/organization information in the spaces provided.)

[DESTINATION/ORGANIZATION] PARTICIPATING IN NATIONAL TRAVEL JOB BANK TO PROVIDE JOBS FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS

    As many as 260,000 travel-related employees may be out of work following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.  The U.S. travel and tourism industry has launched an unprecedented joint effort to get as many of these workers back on the job as quickly as possible.

One of the many ways that (Destination/Organization) is helping is by posting its available jobs on the site.  The (Destination/Organization) is also asking all businesses in the local community to do the same on www.katrinajobs.org.

"Once the safety and security of people in the affected areas is assured, the next step is to get them back to work," [President/CEO] said.  "Travel and tourism employees have some of the most transferable job skills of any industry."

Most recent statistics show the travel industry in the affected areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama accounts for $18.3 billion in business annually.  Almost one in five jobs in all three states was travel-related.

Although many companies are working to transfer employees from the affected areas to hotels and other businesses across the country, the scope of this disaster requires a broad relief effort beyond what the affected companies can provide.

The www.katrinajobs.org site was created by the Travel Industry Association of America, in partnership with the Travel & Tourism Coalition and the Travel Business Roundtable. Other partners include USDM.net (web development) and Korey Kay Partners (advertising agency).