In today’s board meeting, Brand USA leaders shared their plan on how to reopen the United States for tourism – to re-introduce America to the world in a “new normal” – as the way tourism can be promoted needs to be reset.
Therefore, Brand USA called their path to bring tourism back as “reset & go.”
In late September, Brand USA is launching its Global Marketplace. It will be a 24/7 platform with virtual rooms assessed from Partner Pavillions for Exhibitors & Buyers; a main stage for programming and enrichment; and a GoUSA TV Room for film, TV, entertainment, and on-demand enrichment.
Brand USA said their partners had left the international marketing space to focus on local recovery.
Recovery will be the next important step for the USA to bring travel to the United States back.
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Drive international arrivals, spending, and revenue for travel suppliers, as well as state and local DMOs in the United States
Objectives: Generate measurable bookings through an inspirational campaign that integrates selected tour operators, airlines, and OTAs through calls-to-action and use of Branding USA itinerary programs and other tools.
Measures: Attributable bookings; participation and engagement by tour operators, OTA’s, and airlines. -
Deploy an effective and efficient campaign
Make the USA the easy and obvious choice as a travel destination.
Engagements, video views, CPM, campaign-led bookings. -
Represent the entirety of the United States, including rural and urban areas
Include as many states, cities, regions, and territories as possible in the creative for the recovery campaign ensuring a balance of rural and urban destinations.
Number of city and states included, and rural/urban ratio of included destination. -
Use the recovery platform for cooperative marketing
Implement cooperative marketing opportunities in conjunction with the campaign with a focus on activation. A number of partners participating, percentage of returning partners YOY, attributable booklings.
Brand USA is planning to develop a re-entry vehicle that is dynamic, salable, and global. It will be disruptive, representing an innovative solution which will replace inefficient, inertia-driven methods. It will be efficient with the purpose of lowering barriers to participating and requiring minimal resources.
The virtual creation of Brand USA may not be the most encouraging news for the Meeting and Incentive Industry (MICE). Brand USA said it will create a virtual version of Travel Week for 2020 and beyond, even when face-to-face meetings can be introduced again. Virtual will remain a part of the USA outreach experience.
Reset and Go
Driving intent to visit the United States and increasing engagement with and within Brand USA all work towards a single goal: Leading the recovery of the United States Travel and Tourism industry.
To reach this goal, Brand USA suggested the following approach:
- Re-evaluating “normal”: It’s important that we are optimistic in tone and play into our aspirational DNA that the U.S. is more than just a destination, it’s an idea that we can tap into to emotionally connect with consumers.
- Safety will be non-negotiable: Clearly communicate the US is safe for international travelers and we are ready to welcome them with the appropriate protocols and procedures.
- The Great Outdoors: Lean into abundance of open roads, vast lands, sprawling national parks, and off-the-beaten-path destinations that are uniquely ownable to the U.S.
- Optimism for Future Travel: Travel willingness will recover, and when it does, it’s crucial that we’re in market with an ownable rallying cry that resonates just as well with partners as consumers.
- Freedom to Fully Experience: Make sure that information about our destinations and the many experiences available to tourists comes through in our messaging.
- The Road Trip: The U.S. is home to the road trip, a uniquely American strength that we should prioritize via our recovery campaign.
The communication task to reopen the United States for tourism is:
- Welcome the World Back: High impact creative execution that provides a clear sign that the USA is once again welcoming tourists to visit on TV, OLV, R.
- Bring to Life Post COVID Possibilities: Communication tactics that bring to life the incredible possibilities of a U.S. trip even in a post-COVID reality. There are countless socially distant experiences that our audience may not consider on their own. This will be explained by social & digital influencers, articles, and itineraries.
- Prove we’re ready: Strategies which highlights the efforts being taken by our airports, DMOs, tourism operators, to ensure safety for travelers who come back to visit us as this will be non-negotiable. This will be communicated by influencers, websites, and social searches.
- Entice and Convert: Deploy marketing strategies that ensure that the USA maintains its fair share of international travelers through lower-funnel tactics aimed at driving bookings. This will be communicated in social digital tours, operators, airlines and OTA partnerships.
- Open our toolbox: Ensure the Reset and Go Platform provides our partners new tools that they can use to be a part of the comeback effort and drive bottom-line results.
