Travel marketing proves profitable for U.S.
By Amy Langfield, CNBC
A little marketing can go a long way when it comes to luring travelers, even if you’re a well-known destination like the United States. That’s the message from Brand USA, the public-private partnership created in 2010 to stop the U.S. from shedding its share of the world’s tourists.
The U.S. was increasingly losing out to spots such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
According to the Department of Commerce, 67 million international travelers visited the United States in 2012.
And Chris Thompson, CEO of Brand USA, said that not all of them would have come without a nudge from a $72 million marketing campaign focused on eight countries. That expenditure elicited 1.1 million trips and $7.4 billion in spending that otherwise would have gone to other destinations, according to a report that the firm released Thursday.