New consumer campaign and website launches in eleven markets to increase inbound visitation to the USA

LONDON, 6 APRIL 2017 – Brand USA, the destination marketing organisation for the United States has unveiled a new consumer campaign and website, www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk, as the organisation works to increase inbound tourism to the United States. Through this new interactive campaign, Brand USA illustrates the diversity of the United States and invites travellers to share their own unique experiences. 

The consumer campaign spans a variety of advertising and media platforms, including online videos, out-of-home signage, high impact online display ads, and social media posts that will drive awareness of the new campaign and inspire visitation to the USA.

The campaign launches with an innovative social-first approach, concentrating on shareable and relatable imagery and video content whose first person viewpoint will draw consumers into the frame and make them feel like they could have captured the shots themselves. Music will also play a significant role in the new campaign, with music tracks tailored to individual personas and reflective of sounds distinct to the USA.

In an era of likes, tweets and #latergrams, social networks are one of the most influential forces driving travel planning today. The campaign, which will run across Facebook, Instagram, and various digital networks, will help potential travellers discover the variety of experiences, hidden gems, and off-the-beaten-path destinations available throughout the USA.

"As storytellers, we want to provide prospective travellers with the most compelling content that not only inspires them to visit, but also motivates them to plan a trip,” said Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA. “Our new campaign meets travellers where they are and challenges them to see how far they can go on their USA experience.”

The new www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk website features vibrant videos, inspiring content and cutting-edge mobile functionality. Travellers can explore itineraries that start in gateway cities, such as New York City, New York or San Francisco, California and end up to five hours away. These expanded itineraries help travellers understand how many unique destinations and attractions they can experience in a single trip to the United States.

Brand USA produced 15 versions of the new website in eight different languages, with each international market having a customised version in the home country language. The site encourages users to plan their USA trip through a personalised online experience, engaging with others, and receiving and sharing content across social media that is localised uniquely to them. Its interactive section, “Choose Your Adventure” tailor-makes the visitor experience by recognising search patterns of the user to provide intuitive trip recommendations.

Additionally, Brand USA worked with its destination partners to ensure the website had extensive local content for visitors to have a one-stop location to explore their passions, desires, and their spontaneous side instead of a checklist.

“Brand USA's new digital experience is built to be relevant to the right person at the right moment, serving as a starter point where prospective visitors can receive a taste and feel for the United States,” said Tracy Lanza, vice president of Integrated Marketing for Brand USA. “The site has key functionality such as the ability to personalise the user experience. It also has modular capabilities that provide us with the ability to measure which sections are performing well and adjust sections that are less frequented to ensure the user experiences content that's most relevant to them every time.”

The USA means so many different things to different people in different places and this campaign puts the unifying experience of travel at the heart of it, allowing travellers to see what choosing their own U.S. adventure may look like. Prior to creating the campaign, Brand USA conducted research into the UK's key motivations when choosing their travel destinations. It found that UK travellers are predominantly looking for 'local' experiences, meaning they are interested in discovering off-the-beaten path adventures and uncovering their own unique holiday.

The consumer campaign is aimed at welcoming prospective travellers to explore the endless opportunities in the USA, and show how far they can go — geographically, spiritually, and emotionally. The new consumer campaign will be supplemented by a number of marketing platforms and programmes each year that Brand USA deploys to increase international visitation to the United States and drive tourism dollars to communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five territories.

According to a study released by Oxford Economics, over the past three years, Brand USA's marketing efforts have generated more than 3 million incremental international visitors to the United States, benefiting the U.S. economy with nearly $21 billion in total economic impact, which has supported, on average 50,000 incremental jobs a year.

As the number one services export for the United States, tourism to the United States currently supports 1.8 million American jobs (directly and indirectly) and benefits virtually every sector of the U.S. economy. Since 2011, Brand USA has significantly increased the effectiveness of its consumer campaigns that helped drive increase in international traveller intent to visit the USA from an average of 52 percent in FY2013 to 60 percent from FY2014 to FY2016.

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About Brand USA

Brand USA, the destination marketing organisation for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act as the nation's first public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. The organisation's mission is to increase international visitation to the USA in order to fuel the U.S. economy and enhance the image of the United States worldwide. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA. According to studies by Oxford Economics, over the past three years Brand USA's marketing initiatives have helped welcome more than 3 million incremental visitors to the USA, benefiting the U.S. economy with nearly $21 billion in total economic impact, which has supported, on average, 50,000 incremental jobs a year.

For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA's consumer website VisitTheUSA.com and VisitTheUSA.co.uk.

Brand USA contacts

Anne Madison AMadison@TheBrandUSA.com 001 202 695 5351 (Washington, D.C. office)

Sarah Barnett SBarnett@TheBrandUSA.co.uk 020 7845 6378 (London office)

Polly Beech PBeech@TheBrandUSA.co.uk 020 7845 6359 (London office)