Brand USA Newsletter - November 2016

Brand USA Germany Sponsors Third Successful MegaFam

A total of 80 travel agents from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland visited eight different itineraries in the United States during Brand USA’s third travel trade Mega Familiarization (Fam) Tour this fall, giving them firsthand experience to better enable them to promote the USA as a premier travel destination.

The MegaFam, co-sponsored with Lufthansa Group Airlines, United Airlines, Alamo, and El Monte, was kicked off at the Lufthansa Training & Conference Center in Seeheim, Germany on September 15, where the 80 agents and their host guides met before the trip.

The agents were divided into two groups of 40. Half of the agents at a time took part in a Tour IPad Rallye, where they were asked questions about the eight U.S. destinations and Lufthansa products, while the other half attended a training center to learn more about the United States and Lufthansa. The agents were treated to an American-style barbeque that evening. Each group was given a computer tablet with a preinstalled application and instructions on producing a video for the grand finale.

The group was then divided into eight groups of 10 participants. Each group left the next morning, September 16, from Frankfurt International Airport to start one of the eight trips to the following destinations:

  • Take It Easy: Houston, Texas & Louisiana
  • Life Is Good: Seattle, Washington & Oregon
  • Feel Free: Charlotte, North Carolina & Tennessee
  • Keep Calm and Aloha: Hawaii
  • The Sunny Side of Life: Florida
  • The Natural Beauty: Capital Region (Virginia and Maryland)
  • Go Big: California
  • Let’s Rock It: Los Angeles, California & Nevada

 

The agents visited various sites, including the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk; the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee; the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge; the New Orleans French Quarter; Cunningham State Park near Frederick, Maryland; Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia; and Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.

After visiting their respective destinations, all the agents met back at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., on September 20 for a grand finale event. During the finale, the groups presented their four-minute videos which they produced during the trip. The travel agents who visited Los Angeles, California and Nevada were awarded an IPad Mini for producing the most innovative video.

Meanwhile, more than 270 tourism partners and travel agents viewed the documentary “America Wild America – National Parks Adventure” in Germany and Switzerland last month.

The film, a collaboration of Brand USA and award-winning filmmaker MacGillivray Freeman, promotes the majestic beauty and celebrates the centennial anniversary of the national parks system in the United States. The 45-minute film features Robert Redford as its narrator and footage from 30 parks – including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Arches, and Glacier national parks.

Invited by Brand USA Germany, 100 travel partners watched the film in city of Sinsheim on October 11 and, two days later, over 170 travel agents gathered in Lucerne, Switzerland to screen the film.

At each event, Artist Rachel Pohl, one of the movie’s principal performers, vividly described her personal experience in being part of the documentary. After both screenings, audience members called the film both impressive and inspiring.

The documentary premiered in the German-speaking market in March 2016. Besides the cities of Sinsheim and Lucerne, it also was screened in the city of Nuremberg, Germany.