Brand USA Korea hosted 30 U.S. travel specialists for a USA specialist familiarization tour, enabling the travel agents to experience parts of United States firsthand and use that knowledge to develop tour products.
As part of the destination marketing organization’s USA Specialist Program, the familiarization tour from September 24 to October 3 involved travel specialists who regularly attend the monthly USA specialist educational seminars.
The fam tour was a huge success, thanks to Delta Air Lines, direct marketing organizations, and rental car and hotel partners which sponsored airline tickets, accommodations and ground transportation.
The 30 agents were divided into three groups which visited Seattle & Portland; California & Nevada; or Grand Circle. Each of the fam groups was given two assignments. One was to upload images of them visiting attractions onto their personal Instagram accounts and get the highest number of “Likes.” The second assignment was to create a team video about their tour.
At the end of the tour, the three teams gathered in Lake Tahoe, where Brand USA Korea and Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority sponsored a grand finale event. Austin Sass, the Mayor Pro Tem of South Lake Tahoe, and Carol Chaplin, the Executive Director of Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, kicked off the event with their welcome remarks. Each team then offered brief presentations about their trip and presented their short videos. The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority hosted a farewell dinner capped with an awards ceremony.
At the finale, the USA Specialist agents shared the highlights of their tour itineraries and met with Brand USA partners in Lake Tahoe.
Each team’s video can viewed here