Sun Coverage
The brand message the United States will use to attract international tourists will be unveiled at the world’s largest travel show on Monday.
The U.S. brand positioning is important to Las Vegas because the city is on a shortlist of destinations foreign tourists want to see when they travel to the United States.
The nation’s marketing message — the first ever by the United States — will be rolled out at the opening of the four-day World Travel Market in London. Brand concepts will be explained in a video produced for the show and the first advertisements encouraging travel to the United States are expected to be distributed in March.
“We plan to show the essence of how the brand will place itself on the world stage with regards to other global destinations,” said Stephen Cloobeck, chairman of the Corporation for Travel Promotion board of directors and CEO of Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts International. “This is really over-the-top stuff and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished in such a short time.”
The Corporation for Travel Promotion is a nonprofit public-private partnership established by the Travel Promotion Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. Nevada’s congressional delegation was among the staunchest supporters of the legislation, which establishes a $14 fee on foreign travelers that is matched by cash and in-kind contributions from the tourism industry. Funding became available to the corporation on Oct. 1.
The fund will be used to purchase advertising and market travel to the United States, a model similar to the one that funds the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is funded primarily with room tax revenue generated in Clark County resorts and hotels.
Cloobeck said initially the United States would be promoted in 10 to 12 countries. The 11-member board of directors Cloobeck leads sets policy and guidance for CEO James Evans to implement. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke appointed the board of directors.
More than 47,000 people, including several Las Vegas tourism and resort industry executives, will be at the EXCEL London convention center for the World Travel Market from Monday through Thursday.
Cloobeck said the U.S. brand would be “culturally sensitive, provocative and will position the United States properly on the world stage.” In addition to revealing the brand, the corporation is expected to unveil a corporate logo and announce a new name for the corporation.
Cloobeck said he has briefed Obama about the branding and that the president made it clear in his recent appearance in Las Vegas that the campaign would provide jobs and reverse declining market share trends for travel to the United States.
The Commerce Department’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries said 60 million foreign tourists, most of them from Canada and Mexico, visited the United States in 2010, the highest number in history, but a lower market share percentage than in previous years.
U.S. tourism leaders embraced the Travel Promotion Act as the nation’s share of international tourists declined compared with other countries.
The Commerce Department estimates Las Vegas had 2.4 million overseas visitors in 2010, the sixth highest among U.S. cities and a 9.2 percent share of the total market. That’s 31 percent more than the number visiting the city in 2009, one of the top percentage gains in the nation.