25 APR 2019: Brand USA has appointed Colin Skerritt as its regional director in Canada. In this new Toronto-based position Skerritt’s singular focus is to promote the United States as a premier travel destination to Canadian travellers.

As part of his role, he is responsible for bringing the full force of all of Brand USA’s resources to develop and implement Brand USA’s ongoing strategies in the Canadian market related to travel trade outreach, consumer marketing, consumer public relations, and partner marketing.

Skerritt has more than 15 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry in Canada.

From 2016 to 2018, he was director of tourism in Canada for the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) where he directed the tourism authority’s marketing strategies (travel trade marketing, digital marketing, media relationships, and public relations) to reach Canadian travellers.

Prior to his time at ABTA, Skerritt led successful corporate and leisure sales and marketing programs for Air Canada, where he was the global accounts manager from 2010 to 2016 with responsibilities for travel revenue growth in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom.

While at Air Canada, Skerritt worked directly with the airline’s largest corporate and leisure travel management partners and led the Air Canada Vacations relationship. From 2007 to 2010, he was the manager, regional sales for Virgin Atlantic Airways.

“We are pleased to welcome Colin to the Brand USA team and are confident he will contribute greatly to our efforts in Canada, the number one inbound travel market to the USA,” said Tom Garzilli, chief marketing officer of Brand USA.

“Canada is a critically important market to the United States’ international travel and tourism marketing strategies— accounting for more than 26 percent of all international arrivals to the United States. We are committed to expanding our marketing efforts with travel partners and the travel trade, as well as expanding our consumer facing initiatives to further increase the number of Canadian travellers we welcome to the USA each year.”

In his new position with Brand USA, Skerritt reports to Cathy Domanico, vice president, global trade development.

He will work with Brand USA’s global trade development, marketing, and corporate communications teams across the organization to develop and execute the organization’s strategic objectives, key initiatives, and plans to expand Brand USA’s global opportunities in the Canadian outbound travel market.

“I am honored to be part of the Brand USA team and I look forward to promoting travel from my home country, which I love, to one for which I have a strong passion and affinity,” said Skerritt.

According to the National Travel and Tourism Office at the U.S. Department of Commerce (NTTO), 20.2 million Canadians visited the United States in 2017 and preliminary numbers for 2018 show that number increased by five percent from 2017 to 2018 when the USA welcomed 21.2 million Canadian visitors. In addition, the NTTO forecast points to a 22 percent increase in arrivals from Canada from 2017 through 2023—bringing the annual arrivals to an expected 24.6 million.