Brand USA Is Turning World Cup Goodwill Into the Next Trip
Love Park | Philadelphia, PA
By: Leah Chandler, Chief Marketing Officer, Brand USA
Everyone is thinking: what happens after the World Cup? How do we take the goodwill and positive perception the United States received from World Cup visitors and turn that into future demand? The answer is that it is already happening.
World Cup’s Impact
This summer’s tournament was the most attended in the competition’s history, drawing 6.25 million fans to matches across the United States, more than double the previous record. In June alone, the U.S. welcomed 2.8 million overseas visitors, and 59 percent of them came from countries competing in the tournament.
Our own storytelling met the moment. Ahead of the matches we built original content for all 11 U.S. host cities. Once fans were here, we shifted from publishing to amplification, resharing what visitors and partners were posting in real time. On Instagram, 151 reposts far outpaced our original posts. The Hat Trick Guide series and For the Love of the Game generated 7.4 million impressions.
The most useful finding was not in the numbers. Visitors kept telling us the same thing about the United States, and it was about more than soccer. They were struck by how warmly they were greeted. American hospitality turned out to be the story travelers took home.
More to Love
We built More to Love to hold onto that momentum. The campaign launched as the final match kicked off, thanking visitors for coming and inviting them back to see what they missed. It ran in seven markets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K. and Ireland.
- It delivered 335 million impressions
- Performed 119 percent above our benchmark for boosted social
- Was 42% more cost-efficient compared to benchmarks
- On TikTok alone it drew more than 94 million views
- Engagement was strongest in Korea, Brazil, and Japan
Partners leveraged the assets on their own channels, which is a meaningful share of why the reach went as far as it did.
A First-Person Perspective Builds Trust
Our strategy deliberately pushed creators into new destinations, dispersing international attention throughout the country. These trips highlighted incomparable national parks, quirky roadside attractions, iconic American attractions, and more experiences that will always live beyond major events, reinforcing the More To Love message.
Assets of the USA Generated via Creators
Itineraries
Featured States and Territories
While tapping into creator audiences is important, it’s also critical for Brand USA to leverage content on our own channels and showcase how we send influencers around the USA. You can easily identify creator content on the @visittheusa Instagram account, where we add story takeovers to our highlights and label “Real Trip” content in the feed so it’s easier for travelers and destinations to find.
Carrying it into 2027
These insights are shaping our work as we head into 2027. Our new in-production America the Beautiful spots are built entirely on it. A family travels through the Southeast, and a single gesture of a tipped hat gets passed from a store employee in Nashville, to a police officer on Broadway, a park ranger in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and a lifeguard on the South Carolina coast. In America, we have lots of ways to say hello.
Our social team is developing an extension of that idea, looking at American hospitality in action, from the people who greet guests for a living, to the culture keepers inviting visitors into local traditions.
The World Cup gave us a wave of goodwill toward the United States. Our job is to keep it moving.
