U.S. economy gets $15 billion boost from Brand USA marketing

BrandUSA– the nation’s destination-marketing organization – generated more than 2 million incremental visitors to the U.S. from around the globe over the past two years, according to a new study by Oxford Economics. Those visitors accounted for$6.5 billionin incremental spending, which injected nearly$15 billioninto the American economy. The influx of incremental visitors also supported an average of 50,000 incremental jobs each of the two years.

BrandUSAwas created through the 2010 Tourism Promotion Act as a public-private enterprise to coordinate international marketing efforts in order to increase tourism to the U.S. and enhance America’s image as a premier travel destination. It began operations inMay 2011. Today, BrandUSAis working with a network of nearly 500 private-sector partners.

«As a result of welcoming more international visitors tothe United States, the U.S. economy grows, jobs are created and more importantly, there is a more favorable image ofthe United Statesaround the world,» saidChristopher L. Thompson, President and CEO of BrandUSA.

Oxford Economics, an international economic forecaster based inOxford, England, looked at nine global markets for the ROI study:Australia,Brazil,Canada,China,Germany,Japan,Mexico,South Koreaand theUnited Kingdom. BrandUSAis fully deployed in each of those markets – implementing campaigns for consumer, travel-trade and cooperative marketing.

«BrandUSAmarketing initiatives had the strongest results, according to the study, in Asian-Pacific and South American markets, where the ROI was 48:1. Travelers from those markets account for a considerable number of international visitors to places beyond the major gateway destinations inthe United States,» Thompson said.

Oxfordfurther documented that BrandUSAmarketing brought 903,400 incremental visitors tothe United Statesduring fiscal 2014. Those travelers spent$3.1 billionon travel with U.S. carriers, producing$7.1 billiontotal sales. Overall, during fiscal 2014,the United Stateswelcomed 75 million international visitors. This translated into a$222-billionboost for the U.S. economy.

Half of BrandUSAfunding comes from the private sector. The other, matching half comes from the$10fee charged to visitors who are from countries that do not require visas for travel to the U.S.