Brand USA to create "lifetime of holidays"
Brand USA, the body charged with promoting America to the world, will aim to convince Australians to spend “a lifetime of holidays” in the US as it begins to finally bed down in the local market.
The vision came as Brand USA announced plans to launch an online travel agent training program called the USA Discovery program. Initially set for the UK, the platform is likely to be rolled out in Australia within six months.
Sydney-based destination marketing firm Gate 7, appointed in April to spearhead the Brand USA venture in Australia, said its aim is to ensure the US is in the “consideration mindset” of consumers every time they book a holiday.
Marketing to first time visitors will form part of its task as will promoting the variety of experiences to encourage repeat visitors.
Brand USA Australia strategic director Joe Ponte, who spent nine years at Flight Centre, including five as national marketing manager, said rather than tourists feeling they should travel to Europe it will attempt to persuade them they have everything they need in the US.
“Once someone travels to the US, they are a customer of the US and we must ensure they remain that and take 10 holidays in a row,” he told Travel Today at US trade show Pow Wow in Las Vegas.
“There are so many experiences in the US, experiences that people do not yet understand they can have. We have an opportunity to create a lifetime of holidays.”
Raising awareness of those experiences and “opening up the destination” will form part of the drive to improve the spread of visitors, he said.
Currently, only 15% of Australian visitors move beyond California, Hawaii, Las Vegas and New York. Brand USA’s presence will help to “broaden” the appeal, Ponte said.
While unrealistic to genuinely expect someone to holiday in the US for 10 consecutive years, Gate 7 managing director Jo Palmer said the aim was for the US to be constantly considered by consumers.
“We want to create a mindset that says ‘I want to go back to the US’”, she said. “We have a fantastic opportunity and I am inspired by the challenge.”
Turning to the launch of its online agent training, USA Discovery Program, Palmer said she expects it to arrive in Australia in around six months.
She said identifying the 200 key travel agents who sell the US would form the basis of its ambitions to create US specialist retailers.
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