Thomas Cook Group and Brand USA launched pan-European Social Media competition United Stories of America

Washington, DC, US, 2014-1-28 — /travelprnews.com/ — Thomas Cook Group and Brand USA, the destination marketing organisation for the United States of America, have today launched United Stories of America – a pan-European Social Media competition that offer participants the chance to win a holiday to the USA every month.

Following on from the announcement that Thomas Cook Group and Brand USA have entered into a multimillion dollar partnership designed to inspire holidaymakers to think of the USA as a premier travel destination and make it their next holiday, United Stories of America will run simultaneously across the UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands from today (27 January) through to April 2014. It forms part of the joint ‘Discover America’ campaign initiative, which aims at raising awareness of travel to the USA by highlighting the diversity of experiences available across the country.

Hosted on Thomas Cook’s Facebook pages, consumers across Europe who have travelled to the United States will be invited to visit an App that allows them to share their memories by ‘pinning’ their favourite experience to an interactive map and sharing with their friends. Those who have yet to travel to the USA will also be able to enter the United Stories of America competition, simply by pinning their American dream destination to the map and giving the reasons why they would like to experience a holiday there.

Brand USA CEO, Christopher Thompson, said: “There are no better advocates of the USA than the people who have spent time here and enjoyed it. By encouraging visitors to talk about their holidays and share their incredible U.S. experiences, we hope this will lead to many more consumers discovering this land, like never before.”

A variety of prizes will be available to win throughout the campaign, including holiday vouchers to put towards a holiday and a prize draw at the end of each month that will see one lucky entrant winning an all-expenses paid holiday to the USA for four (4) persons.

The competition forms part of the largest media and partnership deal Brand USA has made with a travel retailer in Europe and is part of a fully integrated, omni-channel campaign targeting travel-intenders across Thomas Cook’s platforms from online through to in-store, direct and inflight.

“United Stories of America, along with the wider campaign, demonstrates our determination to deliver highly engaging, creative solutions for Brand USA, with digital at their core,” explains Thomas Cook’s Group Head of Media & Partnerships, Stuart Adamson.

“By taking advantage of the scale of Thomas Cook as a brand, we are confident that our activities to promote ‘Discover America’ will firmly position America’s incredible variety of destinations and holiday-options in the minds of consumers across Europe in a fun and innovative way.”

http://www.thomascook.com/holidays/usa-holidays/

Discover this land, like never before at DiscoverAmerica.com

Thomas Cook on Facebook – UK : https://www.facebook.com/thomascook

Thomas Cook on Facebook – DE : https://www.facebook.com/Neckermann.Reisen

Thomas Cook on Facebook – NL : https://www.facebook.com/neckermannreizennl

Thomas Cook on Facebook – BE : https://www.facebook.com/ThomasCookBelgium

Discover America on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverAmericaUK

###

Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the world’s leading leisure travel groups with sales of £9.5 billion and 23 million customers in the year ended 30 September 2012. Thomas Cook is supported by c27,000 employees and operates from 19 countries; it is number one or two in all its core markets. Thomas Cook Group plc’s shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (TCG).

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 organisation’s mission is to increase international visitation to the United States while working in partnership with the travel industry to maximise 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.   
For further Brand USA information, contact:

Siobhan Burke – sburke@thebrandusa.co.uk / 020 7845 6384
Sarah Barnett – sbarnett@thebrandusa.co.uk / 020 7845 6378