Taiwan, Hong Kong, & Singapore Office Update
Brand USA Hosts U.S. Partners at ITB Asia 2019 and a Music Tour for Influencers
Brand USA staged a very successful exhibition pavilion for the seventh consecutive year at ITB Asia – as inbound travel from Southeast Asia to the United States is predicted to grow by 44 percent by 2023.
That makes Southeast Asia a dynamic market for Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States which has a mission to increase travel to the United States, fuel the U.S. economy and create travel industry jobs.
As the leading trade show for Southeast Asia’s outbound tourism industry, ITB Asia, was held in Singapore Oct. 16-18 and attracted more than 11,000 delegates from 127 countries to meet the exhibitors and buyers across the segments.
Brand USA collaborated with U.S. embassies and the U.S. Commercial Service to arrange a series of trade events at ITB Asia, which afforded opportunities for the nearly 25 U.S. exhibitors to meet with prominent Southeast Asian tour operators, travel buyers, and media representatives.
Besides a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Brand USA Pavilion, U.S. delegates to ITB Asia networked with over 70 leading Southeast Asian wholesalers, tour operators, and online travel agencies. In addition, the U.S. Commercial Service, Brand USA and U.S. delegates to ITB Asia shared the latest outbound travel updates and market opportunities with U.S. exhibitors. The briefing featured guest speakers from Skyscanner.
Brand USA also distributed its USA Insider Guides, which showcase regional self-drive itineraries that take travelers off-the-beaten track around the United States and cover themes such as musical journeys and national parks.
This comes at a time when airlines are scheduling more flights to the United States:
- Singapore Airlines launched a new nonstop flight to Seattle in September 2019. This adds to nonstop services from Singapore to New York and Los Angeles.
- Vietnamese Airlines became licensed to fly from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Dallas this year.
- The Garuda Indonesia airline announced plans to fly from Jakarta to Los Angeles via Japan this year.
- China Airlines commenced direct flights from Taipei to Ontario.
- Cathay Pacific Airlines launched a four-times-weekly service from Hong Kong to Seattle this year and Washington D.C. last year.
- Philippines Airlines launched nonstop service between Manila and New York last year.
Meanwhile, Brand USA and Air Canada partnered to bring key opinion leaders (KOLs) from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan on a familiarization tour - an American musical cultural road trip - through the south in the USA.
Taiwan’s prominent YouTube Music Producer Dena, Hong Kong’s Global Travel Vlogger Polly, and Singapore’s Lifestyle/Beauty Influencer Novita ventured on the familiarization tour from New Orleans to Mississippi and on to Houston to experience each destination’s distinctive musical culture.
They visited the French Quarter, New Orleans Preservation Hall and New Orleans Jazz Museum in New Orleans. They then followed the Mississippi blue trails to visit the B.B. King Museum, the Delta Interpretation Center and the Grammy Museum Mississippi. They then traveled to NASA Space Center and the Kemah Boardwalk, a 60-acre Texas Gulf Coast theme park near Houston.
The KOLs heralded the trip a huge success - Taiwan’s KOL, Dena, specifically mentioning that being immerse in the roots of popular music left her intrigued about the little towns in the U.S. south. Showing the influencers these destinations enables them to encourage others to travel to the United States.