Brand USA Starts 2025 with Sales Missions in Mexico & India
Brand USA kicked off 2025 with Sales Missions in two critical international markets—Mexico and India—that enhanced business opportunities for destinations across the United States.
Mexico Sales Mission
Brand USA led a delegation of U.S. travel and tourism partners on a five-day Sales Mission to Mexico, reinforcing the importance of the country as the United States' largest source market for international visitation. The mission included educational sessions, business-to-business (B2B) appointments, and relationship-building events in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Visitation from Mexico has increased 17% year-over-year to 17 million in 2024. With Mexico consistently ranking as the number one inbound market, the engagement underscored the mutual commitment to fostering legitimate travel growth and enhancing visitor experiences.
India Sales Mission & CEO Immersion
India has emerged as a powerhouse market for inbound U.S. travel, now ranking as the second-largest long-haul market for visitation to the United States. Visitation from India reached 2.2 million in 2024, surpassing the record set the previous year by 24%. Recognizing this immense potential, Brand USA’s India Sales Mission provided unique opportunities for U.S. destinations and businesses to gain deeper market insights and strengthen relationships with influential travel trade organizations from across the subcontinent.
A new component of this mission was a CEO Immersion program, which offered senior executives from participating organizations an in-depth, firsthand experience of the Indian travel landscape and a deeper understanding of the evolving preferences and purchasing behaviors of Indian travelers. Participants also visited the new U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad to learn more about the State Department’s visa processing efforts and how they are keeping up with high demand for student, business, and tourist visas.
With India’s outbound travel to the U.S. continuing to accelerate, the mission highlighted the importance of sustained engagement and long-term investment in the region. By fostering deeper connections with Indian travel trade and consumers, Brand USA and its partners are well-positioned to capture the burgeoning demand and drive meaningful growth in visitation.