Brand USA

[Gob]

After a tough decade for tourism, the US seeks new ways to attract travellers,
writes Harriet Edleson.



There was a time when just the mention of the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Coast Highway or New York's skyline was enough to entice tourists from around the world. But that was before September 11, 2001, and the rise of security barriers to entering the US, and before Asia's economic renaissance drew travellers there.

So next month, the US will begin a co-ordinated effort to market itself overseas, using billboards, social media, public relations, trade shows and educational campaigns.

The marketing effort grows out of a 2010 law, the Travel Promotion Act. The US Travel Association had noted that the US share of global travel had declined between 2000-2010 and that the country's economy was losing billions of dollars in visitor spending as a result.

The law created a non-profit travel promotion corporation, known as Brand USA, which is financed with public and private money, to run the marketing campaign. While the number of visitors to the US has risen during the past 10 years, the number of travellers worldwide has grown even more. As a result, the country's share of the total travel market is down to 11.2 per cent in 2010 from 17.3 per cent in 2000.

"After September 11, the perception formed around the world that America was not as welcoming as it once was, that there was difficulty in accessing the visa and the entry process through customs was inefficient," Geoff Freeman, the US Travel Association's chief operations officer, says.

"Interest in America is high ... but there has been the perception that 'America isn't interested in me so I won't go'. 'Go away' was the message we were sending."

Freeman says people who have been to the US will return, despite the obstacles perceived or real. "But younger travellers or those who haven't been would go elsewhere," he says.

Brand USA is relying on a combination of private funds and a $14 fee for each traveller from the 36 countries whose citizens do not need a visa to enter the US to raise $150 million this year. So far, Marriott International, the Walt Disney Company and Best Western International have also agreed to invest $1 million each.

The competition to attract tourists includes nine countries that spend from $50 million to more than $150 million annually to promote themselves: Australia ($106.7 million), Britain ($160 million), Canada ($91.9 million), France ($96 million), Germany ($50.8 million), Italy ($56.6 million), Mexico ($173.8 million), South Korea ($80.5 million) and Turkey ($96.8 million). .

"We're the last to the party," Chris Perkins, the chief marketing officer for Brand USA, says.

The US Travel Association will be working with Brand USA at the annual International Pow Wow event in Los Angeles on April 21-25, at which representatives from 70 countries will come to buy travel products they then repackage and sell in their countries.

The goal of Brand USA, set to last until September 2015, is to generate "a tremendous amount of inbound tourism that turns into an economic driver", Perkins says.

- The New York Times



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new ... z1ryW6Yaig

Ok, if you were selling "Brand USA" to foreign folk, what would you be telling them "Come see this, it's great!"

[dales]

If you're coming to San Francisco be sure to wear flowers in your hair.

fast forward 45 years

And you can walk around naked!

[Gob]

Funnily enough Dales, when Jim and I spoke the other day, the whole "here is where the hippy phenomena kicked off" idea was one of the draws to the USA for me. I'm sure there’s a lot of people my age who would love to see Height -Ashbury, Woodstock, The Fillmore etc.

[Jarlaxle]

Well...there are usually plenty of Aussies, at least a few Europeans, and two groups from South Africa that do THIS every year!

[Joe Guy]

Funnily enough Dales, when Jim and I spoke the other day, the whole "here is where the hippy phenomena kicked off" idea was one of the draws to the USA for me. I'm sure there’s a lot of people my age who would love to see Height -Ashbury, Woodstock, The Fillmore etc.

The problem with the legendary Haight/Ashbury and Fillmore auditorium is that they aren't much to look at nowadays. What made the Haight exciting was what was actually going on in those days and what made the Fillmore fun was the way Bill Graham ran the place and the bands that were playing then.

I doubt Woodstock (actually a farm in Bethel, New York) would be much to look at either unless you were to go there with about 300,000 friends.

Anyrote, there are plenty of good things to see in San Francisco. Clothing is optional but you would probably want to wear some since it is usually around 60 degrees Fahrenheit all year round.

[Lord Jim]

There have been a number of songs written about The City That Used To Know How...

The most famous of course being Tony Bennett's I Left My Heart In San Francisco....

The worst is unquestionably A Warm San Francisco Night which when I first heard it when I was in college I thought it was a National Lampoon Radio Hour or Firesign Theater take off on 60's songs...Surely, nothing could be that wet...

"Save up all your bread and fly trans-love airways..."

"trans-love airways"? Really? You're kidding right?

Imagine my surprise when I learned it was actually a sincere ditty...(Eric Burden and The Animals were a great group...House Of The Rising Sun is indisputably one of the top 10 all time rock classics...but damn...

this was embarrassing:



Scott McKenzie's If You Are Going To San Francisco (that Dale referenced) is a period piece, but it's not a bad song and certainly qualifies as a classic ...

But my personal favorite Frisco song is:

[Crackpot]

"Eric Burdon and The Animals" is essentially a different group than than "The Animals" in fact they have as much in common as "Eric Burdon and War".

THe original animals will likley never reform again due to the lazyness of their management at the time only put one band members name on the form for the arrangement when registering their first and biggest hit. Hence all the royalties only went to that person instead of the whole band. Some time back they did do a reunion but that lasted a whole half of one shoe before Eric Burdon lost it and went off on beneficiary of the royalties.

[Lord Jim]

I know exactly what you're talking about when it comes to owning a band's name, but misrepresenting the content...I got sucker punched by that...

Back in the mid-80's , I went to what was billed as a Byrds concert....

The "Byrds" didn't have one single original band member in the group, didn't play any of The Byrds classic numbers (which was probably just as well) and sounded absolutely nothing like the original Byrds...

The fact is, if you own the rights to a band's name, you can put anything on the stage, and represent it as being that band...

If you owned the rights to the name The Beatles, you could put three accordion players, a yodeler, and a dancing poodle on the bill performing Leonard Cohen songs and get away with it....

[BoSoxGal]

I love Journey!

[rubato]

Hey if you have someplace better than this to go to; I'd say you should go there:









I've swum behind and dove through the larger stream in this waterfall.

















Hey, if you have someplace better than this, then go there. Seriously.

Or if you can't handle it. We understand. Some people can't handle it.



yrs,
rubato

[Timster]

Well, I would certainly pay good money to see that, Jim.

However, being a HUGE JERSEY SHORES fan, what the fuck did you expect... .

Oh, regarding the above, Kansas is a little like that. Now they're on a worldwide tour and I saw them in the 70's at their peak. 12 years ago I saw them from 3 feet away center stage at the "Chicken Coop" in Arena Wisconsin. Literally. The venue was a refurbished chicken factory.

To be generous, they were a mere shell of their former selves.

Pure exploitation of a brand name.

[Lord Jim]

To be generous, they were a mere shell of their former selves.

I saw "Steppenwolf" at a club in Charlottesville back in the late 70's....

The were born to be mild....

Just for Tim:



I'll see if I can get you an autographed copy...

[Crackpot]

THat's why it was called "Eric Burdon and the Animals" Jim. He didn't own the name. Between the fact the the keyboardist refused to rectify an accounting error in his favor at the expense of his band mates coupled with the front mans temper (there's a reason that one of their other hits is a sympathetic look at abusing your significant other) the original line up didn't have long to last. It's somewhat surprising they lasted as long as they did.

[Crackpot]

[Lord Jim]

(there's a reason that one of their other hits is a sympathetic look at abusing your significant other)

You know it's funny CP, I've heard that song probably a hundred times over the past 40 years, and I never once connected it to the idea of physical abuse....

I always thought it was about a guy who acted like a jerk, maybe got drunk and obnoxious, or cheated on his girlfriend and was asking for forgiveness...

But after watching that and listening closely to the words bearing in mind your perspective on it, I see your point....

[Jarlaxle]

Which song is that? I dont follow.

[Rick]

Actually like so many of the Animals releases it was a cover.

The original song was written for Nina Simone (thanks Goggle) and had it's roots in the Civil Rights movement in the early 60s.

[Jarlaxle]

But what song?

[Rick]

"Don't let me be misunderstood"

[dales]

"In The House Of The Rising Sun" is better