Brand USA Newsletter - November 2018

Letter from the President & CEO

Headshot of Christopher L. Thompson, President & CEO

Dear Friends and Partners,

We recently welcomed our Board of Directors to Washington, DC where we reviewed our accomplishments from Fiscal Year 2018 and rolled out major initiatives for the year to come. If you were unable to join, I encourage you to review the presentations and watch the recorded sessions on the Brand USA website.

We also bid farewell to Arne Sorenson, who has been a member of our Board of Directors since 2012. Arne’s dedication, leadership, and guidance have been invaluable to the evolution of Brand USA.

To continue the momentum, Brand USA’s 2019 calendar is filling up quickly. We are preparing for our inaugural Brand USA Travel Week, which will include an exclusive series of B2B meetings, educational opportunities, and consumer initiatives for key stakeholders throughout the UK and Europe in September of 2019.

Plans are also underway for the 2019 U.S. - China Tourism Leadership Summit which will be hosted in Seattle, Washington in September of 2019. Seattle will certainly offer a huge welcome to U.S. and China government officials and travel and tourism industry leaders who attend. This year, we had record attendance with 70 U.S. delegates and nearly 100 Chinese delegates, and we anticipate even larger delegation next year.

More exciting news was announced at WTM in London earlier this month - Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona will be the finale destinations for the 2019 UK and Ireland MegaFam. If you missed it, check out the Facebook Live announcement on the ground at WTM!

With the help of our partners, we remain committed to showcasing the diverse stories of the United States through our trade shows, sales missions, road shows, MegaFams, other familiarization tour opportunities, and training initiatives. Each story serves to welcome even more international visitors to the United States.

We are excited to expand and grow our GoUSA TV network. Earlier this month GoUSA TV launched its mobile app – now available on iOS and Android devices – to deliver premium travel content to smartphone users around the globe. The network also partnered with the National Football League to promote London NFL games and, in keeping with our music theme, presented a London Games Kickoff Concert featuring Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Jess Glynne. In October, Brand USA hosted a webinar which went inside the strategies and programming behind GoUSA TV. You can view that recorded webinar on the Brand USA website.

Since our last newsletter, “America’s Musical Journey” has premiered in London, England and Lucerne, Switzerland. The film is scheduled to premiere in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia later this month and in early December.

Alongside the expanding global audience for "America's Musical Journey," "National Parks Adventure" continues to be featured in film screening events by U.S. embassies and consulates, and giant-screen theaters across the globe have extending the screening dates as follows:

  • Valencia, Spain has extended the film though June 30, 2019.
  • Nurnberg, Germany has extended the film through December 31, 2018.
  • Mexicali, Mexico has extended through April 23, 2019.

Overall, “National Parks Adventure” has been viewed by 17 million people and counting with media value of $59 million. We expect comparable results with “America’s Musical Journey.”

Throughout this newsletter, you will see how we are incorporating the stories of the United States into every facet of our marketing strategies. We remain focused on developing cooperative marketing ventures which show international travelers we welcome them to the United States and encourage them to experience this country’s limitless travel opportunities.

Together, we are marketing the USA! 

________________________

Christopher L. Thompson

President & CEO
Brand USA