The U.S. Travel Association has released a study that found the United States ranks 17th out of 18 top travel markets in terms of global competitiveness. Decades of underinvestment and a lack of focus and coordination from federal policymakers caused the U.S. to fall behind, while other countries actively apply robust strategies to increase travel and grow economic output, the study suggests. The study gave the U.S. a 47% score, placing 17th out of 18 countries. Only China was worse. Canada ranked fifth in the report with 59%. Finishing on top of the list was the UK (72%), followed by France, Read more
Brand USA
Cross border travel between Canada and the U.S. is growing, and experts see a strong recovery on the horizon. BrandUSA, which seeks to boost travel to the United States, sponsored a virtual tourism/travel session earlier today with border, tourism and airline officials. Tim Liu, Managing Director, Sales Planning & Effectiveness at Air Canada, said things are looking much better these days. “We are definitely seeing strong signs of growth and we expect to return to a more normal Canada-USA air travel market,” he said. “We definitely see that recovery under way.” “We expect it to be fast-paced recovery and expect Read more
When you think about visiting the U.S., places like New York City and San Francisco and Orlando obviously come to mind. Ditto for great natural sites such as the Grand Canyon, the beaches of Hawaii and the Rocky Mountains. You could make the argument that American music has had an even bigger impact on the world than any of those cities or destinations. From jazz to blues to rock and roll, and from George and Ira Gershwin to Elvis Presley and Jay Z, American musicians have influenced the world for decades. The Beatles wouldn’t have existed without Elvis or Buddy Read more
Glorious deserts and towering redwoods. Quiet canyons and daredevil climbers ascending ridiculous pillars of stone. Fierce grizzlies and adorable prairie dogs. The United States is blessed with perhaps the most diverse geographical variety on the planet. Luckily for them, and for us, they also had the foresight 100 years ago to create a national parks service to preserve these natural wonders forever. Canadians and folks from around the world can visit fantastic parks from Hawaii to California to Maine and beyond. And now, thanks to a new film, Canadians will get a chance this summer to see a remarkable, immersive Read more
David Whitaker was hired in May of this year as chief marketing officer for Brand USA, which was set up in 2010 to market the U.S. to the world. He served as head of Tourism Toronto from 2007 until taking the Brand USA job. Prior to his Toronto job the Georgia native spent 17 years with the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. I sat down with him this week in Orlando at IPW, the massive, annual U.S. tourism session that attracts thousands of travel, trade and media types to talk business and book U.S. travel. Whitaker was in constant Read more
