Brand USA Collaborates with Visit USA Committees for Fiscal Year 2018
As part of Brand USA’s trade outreach efforts during Fiscal Year 2018 (FY2018), Brand USA is expanding its activities with numerous trade outreach initiatives. Much of this activity occurs with an expansive network of Visit USA and Discover America committees around the world. Brand USA’s destination marketing strategies are enhanced through the strength and reach of these committees, and are instrumental in reaching a wider range of travel trade in many markets.
Visit USA/Discover America committees are non-profit associations led by top travel professionals who have long-standing relationships in their respective markets working with both the travel trade and the U.S. Commercial Service. These groups are an important part of Brand USA’s collaborative efforts to promote the United States as a premier travel destination.
In FY2017, Brand USA worked with 16 Visit USA committees on over 50 activities and promotional opportunities. Many of these activities expanded Brand USA’s reach to the travel-trade in these markets. Feedback from these committees has been overwhelmingly positive over the course of the year.
At IPW2017, Brand USA convened a group of Visit USA/Discover America committees, as well as partners in the U.S. Commercial Service, to share best practices in travel and tourism and help to further promote the United States to a diverse set of markets. As a result of this meeting, Brand USA committed to expanding its partnerships in more diverse markets to participate on a number of high-level events, including but not limited to: Partnerships and trade shows, travel shows, networking events, showings of National Parks Adventure and more.
In Japan, Brand USA and Visit USA Japan co-hosted several “Deeply America” seminars and a Visit USA roadshow reaching travel agents throughout Japan and providing training opportunities on how to best sell and promote travel to the United States. In Sweden, Brand USA reached four cities through co-hosted workshops that armed travel agents with knowledge of U.S. destinations. In addition, Brand USA was able to reach a large trade-show audience around the world due to the partnerships with Visit USA committees. Examples include FITUR in Spain, Vakantiebeurs in the Netherlands, Salon Mondial du Turisme in France, MATKA in Finland, and Reiselivsmessen Oslo Trade Show in Norway. Together, Brand USA’s presence at these shows reached thousands of trade professionals and hundreds of thousands of consumers.
Throughout FY2018, Brand USA will be working with nearly twenty Visit USA/Discover America committees in dozens of cities to reach trade and consumers like never before through innovative programs. These programs allow Brand USA to collectively reach thousands of influential travel agents, tour operators, and prospective international travelers. These committees in turn help provide Brand USA partners with valuable and direct exposure to the industry’s most influential professionals worldwide. Full reports of these activities will be available in Brand USA’s Industry Newsletter and Federal Partner Newsletter.
We encourage you to forward this to any colleagues who work directly with Visit USA/Discover America committees. If you have any questions regarding these programs, please contact Jason Aul, Manager of Public Policy Communications, at Brand USA by clicking here.