Brand USA Newsletter - March 2018

South Korea Branch of Brand USA Gears up for the 2018 USA Specialist Program

Brand USA South Korea will launch its fourth USA Specialist Program, an intensive educational campaign to train travel agents in South Korea about the limitless travel destinations in the United States. 

In 2017, a total of 49 travel agents completed the program. A total of 115 agents from Seoul and Busan/Gyeongnam areas have been certified as USA Specialists since the program was launched in 2015. Brand USA decided to continue the program in 2018 because of the significant level of interest from travel agents.

For 2018, 45 travel agents already have enrolled in the program which will include a total of five airlines, six direct marketing organizations and two rental car partners participating. The U.S. partners are: Air Canada, Alamo, American Airlines, California Travel & Tourism Commission, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawai'i Tourism Authority, Hertz, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, NYC and Company, Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau, and United Airlines. 

During the year-long program, Brand USA South Korea will deliver bi-monthly educational seminars to travel agents to enhance their broad understanding of the U.S.  Besides the seminars, the program includes a kick-off orientation and a USA Specialist familiarization tour and a graduation party.

For this year's first event, Brand USA Korea held an orientation workshop on February 7 for program participants, relevant partners and media. Bi-monthly seminars are scheduled for April, June, August, and October.

South Korea is an important market for Brand USA.  In 2016, the number of South Korean visitors to the U.S. totaled 1,97 million, which represents an 11.8 percent increase over 2015. In 2017, the visits from South Korea registered a 32.5 percent growth because of two Korean holidays in May and September which lasted for maximum 10 days. Additional travel service between the U.S. and South Korea could mean that steady growth will continue. The United States was the most popular long-haul destination (outside of Asia) for South Korean travelers.