Sunshine Matters

A bipartisan bill to re-authorize Brand USA—the Travel Promotion, Enhancement and Modernization Act of 2014—was offered earlier this month by leaders in the U.S. House and Senate, a first step in the process to extend this vital program and provide continuity for the nation’s travel promotion program through 2020.  Special thanks go to Florida’s own Rep. Gus Bilirakis  and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), as well as Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), for introducing this critical legislation.

More than five years ago, our industry began asking Congress to level the playing field by creating the first-ever national destination marketing organization—a step our competitors in the global travel marketplace had long since taken.  And now, with its scheduled expiration at the end of fiscal year 2015, it’s time to let lawmakers know just how valuable Brand USA is to our economy.

Brand USA has proven to be extremely successful in increasing international visitation to the United States.  A recent Oxford Economics report on the impact of Brand USA shows that their marketing efforts in 2013 increased inbound international travel to the United States by 2.3 percent, spurred $3.4 billion in new visitor spending, supported 53,000 jobs and generated $972 million in taxes.  Brand USA returns $47 in direct economic benefits for every $1 spent on travel promotion.

VISIT FLORIDA’s partnership with Brand USA is vitally important as we work to establish Florida as the No. 1 travel destination in the world.  Brand USA allows VISIT FLORIDA and our Florida tourism industry partners to leverage our international resources, increase our presence in the global marketplace and participate in innovative marketing partnerships that could only be implemented on a national scale.  VISIT FLORIDA was the first destination marketing organization to sign on as a Brand USA Founding Partner and because of the value that they add to our destination marketing efforts and their success in growing the number of international visitors to the U.S. we will continue to increase our investment moving forward.

VISIT FLORIDA is proud to have supported Brand USA from their inception and remains committed to working with them to create co-op marketing programs that allow Florida’s tourism businesses to advertise on a world stage at a scale not otherwise possible.  We urge Congress to keep this vital resource for the U.S. travel and tourism industry by reauthorizing Brand USA this year.

What You Can Do to Help

U.S. Travel is already at work gathering stories from the ground that bring to life the value of Brand USA marketing programs.  They will continue to share these with members of Congress through a variety of channels, particularly focusing on lawmakers with authority over guiding the legislation to passage.

An Action Alert to appeal for Congressional support of Brand USA re-authorization is now live on the Power of Travel Coalition website.  I ask that you take a moment to send your Senators and Representative a note encouraging them to co-sponsor this important legislation.  Please also encourage others in your network of travel professionals to do the same.  Your local outreach is critical to help get re-authorization of Brand USA across the finish line this year.