Online Trip-Planning with thousands of constantly changing photos, geo-targeted for international visitors!
Washington, DC, 2015-1-27 — /Travel PR News/ — Prospective international travelers considering a visit to the United States can now access an exciting and new interactive map that features content from Instagram and Google Maps.
The enhanced map – created via API access to Instagram, Google Maps and Brand USA – and located on Brand USA’s DiscoverAmerica.com – allows travelers to access real-time content, such as points of interest, relevant photos and travel articles that are positioned at corresponding geo-locations on the map.
Thumbnails of public Instagram images taken by both travelers and Brand USA partners populate the map, enlarge when selected and are geo-tagged to provide accurate locations. For the first time ever, industry partners of Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the U.S., also can add information about their attractions, destinations and accommodations to the map through Brand USA’s content-management system.
“As the nation’s destination-marketing organization, our goal is to inspire and increase travel to the United States,” said Tom Garzilli, Brand USA’s senior vice-president of global partner marketing. “International travelers don’t always grasp the size and scale of the U.S. This new map feature integrates inspirational content shared by other travelers with logistical travel information and helps visitors not just in planning their trip, but in actually discovering all this country has to offer.”
The social-media aspects of the map provide travelers with ways to share their planned itineraries and trip experiences with friends and other travelers.
Users also can access a playlist of songs – through Brand USA’s Spotify profile – that correspond with the themes of suggested American road trips. Instagram and Spotify offer free mobile applications that allow their users to share photos and music.
To view the map, visit DiscoverAmerica.com/roadtrips.
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About Brand USA
Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act to spearhead the nation’s first global marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA. With a mission of increasing international visitation to the United States, Brand USA works in close 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.
According to a study done by Oxford Economics, Brand USA’s marketing initiatives in 2013 alone resulted in an incremental increase of 1.1 million visitors to the USA and total impact on the U.S. economy of $7.4 billion in spending, which supported 53,000 new jobs.
Brand USA’s activities are funded at no cost to U.S. taxpayers through a combination of private-sector investment and matching funds collected by the U.S. Government from international visitors who come to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program. Through its call-to-action—Discover America—Brand USA inspires travelers to explore the United States of America’s boundless possibilities.
For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit www.TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA’s consumer website at www.DiscoverAmerica.com.