Travel Industry Today recently had an opportunity to catch up with Chris Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, and, as always, he was willing to answer our questions and give us a current overview of tourism in the US.

We asked Thompson whether given that the primary motivator of a trip is usually the “experience” of a destination, how much the current political climate and the increased awareness of gun violence might impact travellers’ perception of the USA as a place to visit today.

“We know that a secure travel environment is critical to the continued success of the United States as a travel destination.” He responded, but noted that Brand USA monitors motivations for coming to the USA compared to other countries and travellers continue to rank the USA as one of the safer destinations to visit.

We asked whether the American ‘Brand’ – always regarded as a strong – even the strongest – global brand, and has traditionally been perceived as ‘welcoming’ being weakened and how that perception could be overcome.

The United States, Thompson told us, remains one of the world’s most aspirational destinations.

“And the reasons people want to visit remains the same: our destinations, our experiences, and our people.”

“We continually monitor market conditions to inform our marketing activities and ensure that we are delivering the right message, to the right people, at the right time. Our core campaign strategies leverage authentic voices and emphasize the near limitless experiences across the United States and all within a few hours proximity to gateway cities.”

And when it comes to Canadians, we’re still heading south. In June 2019 (the latest data available from the National and Travel Tourism Office), the US welcomed more than 1.5 million Canadian visitors.

“This is nearly on par with month-to-month comparisons from June 2018. Our Global Market Intelligence survey found Canadian travelers are most interested in visiting beaches and seaside destinations with California, Florida and Hawaii as the top three states for visitation.” Said Thompson.

This year we have seen DMOs in such tourist reliant states as Florida, struggle to maintain workable tourism/marketing budgets, what message does that send we asked.

As the destination marketing organization for the United States, Brand USA is not involved in the legislative process and cannot comment on legislative deliberations at the federal or state level, said Thompson.

However, he stressed, “Brand USA is laser-focused on its mission to increase incremental international visitation, spend, and market share to fuel the nation’s economy and enhance the image of the USA worldwide.

“And, today more than ever, we are confident and energized about Brand USA’s ability to work with hundreds of partners annually to promote all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia.”

Without Brand USA’s marketing activities, there would be a significant drop in the number of international visitors coming to the United States said Thompson.

“Brand USA inspires visitors from around the globe to visit the USA and showcases amazing destinations, experiences, and culture that one can only find in the United States. We directly influence consumers and companies within the travel industry across international markets through a variety of platforms and campaigns.”

Thompson remains positive about the future of US tourism, “The USA is as amazing as ever and offers near limitless travel opportunities. There is so much to see and do travellers can visit multiple times and still have more to explore. And, the people of the United States want to welcome international travellers to their hometowns to share with them the places and experiences they love and why.”

Since 2013, according to an annual study by Oxford Economics, Brand USA’s marketing efforts have had a hugely positive impact. The organization’s efforts have:

• generated 6.6 million incremental visitors
• $21.8 billion in incremental spending
• $6.2 billion federal, state, and local taxes
• $47.7 billion total economic impact
• nearly 52,000 incremental jobs supported each year.

“Roughly 50 percent of the direct, indirect, and induced spend include good jobs, created or supported in multiple industries, such as finance, insurance, real estate, business services, and manufacturing,”

“These positive economic benefits affect the entirety of the US economy well beyond the travel and tourism sector,” says Thompson.

And that certainly is good news.