Washington, DC, 2014-03-28 — /Travel PR News/ — Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, officially opened its Brazil office. The office launch event held today in São Paulo was attended by U.S. Ambassador Liliana Ayalde Brand USA’s Senior Vice President for Global Partnerships Alfredo Gonzalez, and Brand USA’s in-market representatives. Press and travel industry leaders also attended and enjoyed traditional American food and music, which demonstrated the incredible experiences Brazilians can experience in the United States.
Brand USA is the public-private partnership responsible for promoting international travel to the United States, designed to fuel the United States’ economy and spur job growth. Its formation marked the launch of the United States’ first nationally-coordinated international tourism marketing effort.
During the event, Ambassador Liliana Ayalde emphasized the role of tourism in strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. “Tourism is not only an important part of our commercial relationship, but also an integral part of our growing cultural and educational relationship,” said Ambassador Ayalde.
Alfredo Gonzalez showed great confidence in the work of Brand USA in Brazil since the country had the largest increase in the number of visitors in the United States among the eight key countries in which Brand USA is fully deployed through all three consumer advertising, consumer marketing, and travel trade channels. “Brazilians contribute significantly to the increase in numbers of U.S. tourism. Beyond just tourism, the whole U.S. economy benefits from this interest. So we are very happy to start our work here and hope that this relationship will grow even more,” says Gonzalez.
The figures for Brazil, collected in a recent Oxford Economics study on the return on investment in marketing conducted by Brand USA, gave even more strength to the work of Brand USA in the country. From October 2012 through September 2013, Brand USA’s marketing campaigns helped to increase the U.S. market share of outbound Brazilian travelers by 3.1 percent against competing destinations. Brazil showed the largest increase out of the organization’s eight key markets and played an important role in an overall incremental increase of 1.1 million international visitors to the United States.
To represent Brand USA in Brazil and establish partnerships with the tourism market, the organization chose Ogilvy PR and Mariana Abrantes as its official in-market representatives.
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About Brand USA
Brand USA is the public-private partnership responsible for promoting the United States as a premier travel destination and communicating U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures. Established by the Travel Promotion Act in 2010, the organization’s mission is to increase international visitation to the United States while working in partnership with the travel industry to maximize the economic and social benefits of travel. These benefits include creating jobs essential to the economy and fostering understanding between people and cultures.
For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit www.TheBrandUSA.com. For information about travel to and around the United States, please visit Brand USA’s consumer website at www.DiscoverAmerica.com.
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