Brand USA announces first-ever trade focused ‘travel week’

The event will comprise a series of B2B meetings and educational opportunities designed for the trade.

Brand USA Travel Week will be held over September 9-13, 2019, aimed at increasing UK-US tourism.

It was announced on Monday (September 17) during the second annual Brand USA Destination Marketing and Convention and Visitors Bureau Workshop in London.

The workshop, said the US destination marketing authority, provides US destinations and their reps in the UK and Europe the chance to learn more about how it is “working with the influential travel trade” to increase visitors.

“Brand USA Travel Week will be a game-changer for the US travel community,” said Thomas Garzilli, Brand USA chief marketing officer.

“We believe Brand USA Travel Week has the potential to change the way that the United States engages with the UK and European markets, promoting more opportunities than ever before for Brits and Europeans to visit the USA.”

A key feature of Brand USA’s Travel Week will be a travel expo, a new B2B tourism event for the UK and Europe consisting of B2B meetings allowing US destinations to highlight their towns, cities and states in an “engaging, unique and interactive” environment and promote their products and services to UK and European buyers.

Guests will be split 60% buyers to 40% suppliers, spanning tourism boards, accommodation providers, attractions, activity providers and representation firms.

Also contributing to Travel Week will be a series of speakers from across the tourism industry ranging from marketers and strategists to technologists. They will discuss and examine key trends in travel marketing, curated by Brand USA, relating to visitor numbers, spend and market share.

“Through the creation of Brand USA Travel Week, we are sending a strong signal of intent to grow visitation from the UK and Europe by placing a spotlight on the US’s world-leading tourism assets,” Garzilli added.

“The program will bring together public- and private-sector partners with key business interests in the USA and will be a vehicle to support growth in the US travel sector.”