Who would have thought that the land of the free and home of the brave, the most powerful nation in the world, would be doing what was always considered intensely unnecessary — spending millions of dollars on a tourism initiative to promote America as a travel destination?
In August, the US Department of Commerce released data that showed international visitors had spent an estimated $82.2 billion (about Dh301 billion) on US travel and tourism-related goods and services year to date, an increase of 11 per cent over the same period the previous year. This was a new record for US travel and tourism exports.
Recognising that travel and tourism are among the quickest ways to inject life into a suffering economy, President Barack Obama’s government conceived Brand USA. Established by the Travel Promotion Act, Brand USA is a platform created to spearhead the nation’s first global marketing effort to promote the US as a premier travel destination. It also seeks to communicate US entry and exit policies and procedures, and identify and correct misconceptions about those policies, says Jay Gray, Vice-President, Global Partnership Development, Brand USA, in an interview with GN Focus.
Losing ground
According to the latest United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) report, international tourist arrivals grew by 4 per cent last year to reach 1.03 billion. Emerging economies were ahead of advanced economies, with Asia and the Pacific showing the strongest results. But long before this trend, the US had been witnessing a steady decline in tourism.
“One reason for the significant decline is because the US has not had a nationally coordinated collaborative marketing effort. In fact, the US was the only industrialised country without a programme such as this in place,” says Gray.
According to Brand USA, between 2000 and 2010, the US share of international arrivals dropped 36 per cent from a market share of 17 to 12.4 per cent. The associated economic costs of that decline are estimated to be a loss of 78 million visitors, $606 billion in spending, and support for 467,000 jobs annually.
“Unlike most industrialised countries, America has tended to regard tourism as the domain of its individual states or cities, rather than as a national initiative,” says Charlotte J. DeWitt, President, International Events.
Boston-based DeWitt is an authority on international events and festivals and has worked in the field for more than 30 years. She points out that the country has also been hit by a series of events that affected tourism in the US, beginning with the September 11 attacks, the economic crash of 2008, changing weather patterns and volcanic ash in 2010 and even the tsunami in Japan in 2011.
A tall order
After more than a decade-long slump it’s not surprising that there is concentrated effort by the government to make the US the top destination for international travellers. The US Departments of Commerce and Interior are currently implementing a National Travel and Tourism Strategy, in which Brand USA plays an essential role. The aim is to attract more than 100 million international visitors annually by 2021, more than a 50 per cent increase over the number expected last year. These international visitors would spend an estimated $250 billion per year, creating jobs and spurring economic growth in communities across the country.
What Brand USA hopes to achieve is to put the US, for the first time ever, on equal footing with other countries’ tourism efforts. “The key message in the campaign is to discover this land like never before. We also want to spread the US’ welcoming message around the world, inviting travellers to visit us and see us again — as if for the first time,” says Gray.
The campaign will be active in 11 of the markets that drive the highest level of visitation to and spend in the US — Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and the UK. In total, these markets generate 75 per cent of all international inbound visitation to and spend in the US. “Every 1 per cent increase in visitation from these markets allows us to welcome 500,000 more international travellers to the US, infuse $1 billion in additional revenue to destinations across the country, and create 14,000 new jobs,” says Gray.
Regional perspective
Though not a primary market, current tourist traffic to the US from the Middle East is expected to reach a little more than one million visitors this year and according to the US Department of Commerce, an anticipated increase of 55 per cent by 2020.
This year for the second time the US had a major presence at the Arabian Travel Market — one of the fastest-growing markets for inbound travel to the US, says Devon Dow, Manager, International Travel Trade at Brand USA.
“Being in the UAE is an incredibly valuable experience for US exhibitors, giving us a chance to build on opportunities with the travel trade and exploring cooperative opportunities to promote the US. We invite and welcome travellers from the Arabian markets to come to the United States and discover this land, like never before,” she adds.
