54 World Travel Market Latin America Show Guide 2014 WTM Latin America Brand USA
It’s all about the Brand
Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, has a huge presence at WTM Latin America this year. Brand USA is now in its third year of operation and recently opened a dedicated Brazil office in São Paulo. President and CEO Christopher Thompson outlines the organization’s achievements, ethos and goals.
Fourth year of existence, third year of operation: How has Brand USA changed? As the nation’s destination marketing organization in our third year of operation we’re taking a more strategic approach to deploying our resources by enhancing stronger campaigns through our three-core initiatives: Direct to consumer (dedicated advertising), cooperative marketing (broadcast, digital, social) and direct to travel trade. We’ve also significantly grown our partner base, reaching nearly 300 partnerships with major airlines, hotels, and travel trade to-date and are increasingly building out our social media presence. Most recently, we launched our “Great American Road Trip” campaign that features an interactive tool to help visitors plan their ideal U.S. road trip. It features 10 routes covering 39 states and countless destinations through its Discover American channels, including Facebook, Twitter and the
DiscoverAmerica.com website itself.
What are the achievements so far that you’re most proud of? Brand USA’s public-private partnership is designed to maximize every dollar raised through private companies and unlock matching funds up to $100 million from the U.S. Government. Before the end of 2013, we had already surpassed this mark by raising US$134 million, achieving the full government match. This was a huge milestone for the organization and a testament to how invested the travel and tourism community is in promoting the U.S. abroad. The other achievement I’m most proud of was our Brand USA ROI Report that was released in February. This report validated the effectiveness of our efforts, showing that the money that Brand USA invested in travel
promotion generated $7.4 billion in business sales, $3.8 billion in GDP, and $2.2 billion in personal income, as well as created more than 53,000 new jobs this year.
What’s still to be worked on and what are the main challenges? There are still more markets to reach and more partnerships to make. We’re constantly evolving to make sure we’re staying relevant and reaching each market in the most effective manner. What works for South Korea may not work for France. Another challenge would be competition in the world market. The U.S. ranks second to France in terms of total international arrivals and soon will face new competition from emerging economies like China. Competitor destination countries are spending upwards of $150 million a year to attract more travelers and, in many cases, their budgets to promote their respective countries
to international travelers have increased by as much as two-fold. Brand USA has been incredibly successful thus far, and our only choice is to keep moving forward.
President Obama was key to setting up Brand USA. How involved is he nowadays in its progress and achievements? President Obama remains a strong supporter of Brand USA and is committed to leveraging the Travel Promotion Act to strengthen the economy and create jobs.
The Brand USA 2014 Business Plan says: “USA: Three simple letters jam packed with perceptions and misperceptions” – can you elaborate please? No matter where you’re traveling from, you will always have some type of preconceived idea of your final destination. For travelers to the U.S., this could mean a number of things, and our job is to open people’s minds to the spectacular realities of our nation, expanding beyond what they have seen or experienced before. It is important for our staff and partners around the world to remember that part of their job is to whet travelers’ appetite for the U.S. and increase their desire to see it for themselves.
Christopher Thompson
The plan also lists experiences/ perceptions overseas visitors have had. Some of it was uncomfortable reading. How do you move on? All we can do is educate and improve. We want people to have the best experience
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