Brand USA launches its “Market the Welcome” program at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, 2017-Nov-27 — /Travel PR News/ — Brand USA, the destination-marketing organization for the United States – in partnership with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Georgia Tourism – has launched its “Market the Welcome” program to welcome travelers through the international arrival process at the world’s busiest airport. The program is also designed to inspire guests to visit and experience the greater Atlanta region and the state of Georgia.

Atlanta’s airport is the fifth U.S. airport to implement the Brand USA program. Each airport that has the “Market the Welcome” campaign in place in its international arrivals area features high-impact, inspirational imagery and welcoming language customized to the local and regional tourism market. At the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, there are 29 large panels across 14 gates in Terminal F with welcoming messages in multiple languages, including Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, German, and Simplified Chinese, in addition to English.

“Brand USA and its partners can provide the most inspirational and compelling storytelling about our country to travelers from around the world,” said Christopher L. Thompson, Brand USA president and CEO. “That story begins the moment international travelers arrive in the United States. We have an ideal opportunity to extend our hospitality, and thank our guests for choosing the USA for their travel experiences. The Atlanta airport presents great possibilities for conveying our welcome to international visitors and inviting them to discover the nearly limitless number of authentic travel experiences that the USA offers.”

“It is our privilege to welcome visitors from across the world,” said Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Roosevelt Council, Jr. “We hope to present those visitors with a true representation of the beauty and history that can be found throughout the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia.”

Council Jr. also noted that Atlanta was an obvious place to expand Brand USA’s Market the Welcome program. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the world’s busiest airport for 19 consecutive years. More than 104 million passengers navigated through the airport in 2016, which represented a 2.6 percent increase over the previous year’s numbers. Travelers who fly into Atlanta are within a two-hour flight of 80 percent of the U.S. population.

“Hospitality is ingrained in Atlanta’s culture, and the Market the Welcome campaign allows our city to offer an immediate greeting to international travelers upon arrival,” said William Pate, President and CEO, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. “As home to the world’s busiest airport and a global gateway to the United States, Atlanta now has an even greater opportunity to maximize on the visitor experience.”

“We are excited to be a part of the “Market the Welcome” campaign that will allow us to provide travelers with a taste of our southern hospitality as soon as they arrive in Georgia,” said Kevin Langston, GDEcD deputy commissioner for tourism. “This program showcases some of the many unique stories of our state and I know it will inspire our international visitors to set out and explore all that we have to offer. The international connections to and from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has allowed Georgia to welcome the world and we are ready to greet them.”

In addition to Miami International Airport (MIA), the other airports that implemented the “Market the Welcome” program are Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY).

Visitation levels

In 2016, the United States welcomed 75.6 million international visitors, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This level of international arrivals is the second-highest ever.

According to NTTO, from January through August 2017, international visitors who came to the United States have spent nearly $168 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent over figures from the same period in 2016.

Overall, in 2016 international visitors spent nearly $245 billion in the United States, which topped the world list in global tourism receipts and made up approximately 16.9 percent of all world traveler spending. Travel and tourism represented 33 percent of all U.S. services exports and 11 percent of all U.S. exports in 2016. The U.S. trade surplus in travel and tourism was $89.3 billion in 2016.

Program at U.S. consulates

Brand USA collaborates on a program with U.S. embassies and consulates, through the placement of display graphics, video feeds, photography and informational travel pieces in consular waiting areas. Notable U.S. embassies and consulates that have collaborated on the program include Delhi, Frankfurt, London, Shanghai, and Tokyo, among many others. This collaboration is intended to improve the welcoming experience during the visa application process and showcase an array of travel experiences that await visitors to the United States.

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About Brand USA
Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act as the nation’s first public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. travel policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. The organization’s mission is to increase international visitation to the USA in order to fuel the U.S. economy and enhance the image of the United States worldwide. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA. According to studies by Oxford Economics, over the past four years Brand USA’s marketing initiatives have helped welcome 4.3 million incremental visitors to the USA, benefiting the U.S. economy with nearly $30 billion in total economic impact, and has supported, on average, 50,900 incremental jobs a year.

For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA’s consumer website VisitTheUSA.com.

SOURCE: Brand USA

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