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The U.S.
travel industry is kicking off a first-ever, $12.3 million marketing campaign, featuring
an original song by country-music star Rossane Cash, reports an article by Andy
Fixmer for Bloomberg.
Television,
Internet and billboard ads will begin rolling out in the U.K., Canada and
Japan starting May 1st, and will expand to Brazil and South Korea on
June 1st, according to Jim Evans, chief executive officer of
Washington-based Brand USA a public-private marketing agency established
by Congress in 2010.
The desire
for travel to the U.S. has waned in the past decade as people said in polls
that they knew enough about America from its films, TV shows and music, Evans
said. Some U.S. economic, homeland-security and immigration policies during
that time also made people around world believe America was “less welcoming” to
tourists, he said.
“We knew we
had to change people’s opinions,” Evans said. “It’s critical we show the U.S.
as a nation of freedom, diversity and a lot of fun.”
The
advertising campaign, with the tagline “Discover This Land Like Never Before,” was
unveiled yesterday, April 24, at an international
travel-industry conference in Los Angeles.
Walt Disney
Co., Marriott International, and Best Western International each contributed $1
million for the marketing campaign The federal government is matching the
contributions two for one, financed by exit fees collected on visitors leaving
the U.S
The targeted
countries were chosen based on the volume of travel to the U.S., the ease of
gaining visas, how much visitors from those countries spend on average and the
cost of advertising in those territories.
Foreign
travelers to the U.S. spend $4,000 per trip on average, and each 35 incremental
visitors results in a new job being created.
Cash,
daughter of Johnny Cash, composed “Land of Dreams” for the campaign and
appears in commercials that feature the singer performing with other musicians
from around the world under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
Brand USA’s
efforts will be broad, explained Evans.“‘You won’t just see the Golden Gate
Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge or the Washington Monument in these spots,” Evans
said. “This is a very broad-based ad that shows all of America.”
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