About Brand USA
Brand USA drives legitimate inbound travel to the United States to strengthen the economy, bolster exports, and sustain quality jobs. As the authoritative voice of USA travel experiences, Brand USA showcases what makes America great as a travel destination through strategic advertising, always-on communications, focused engagement with leading sales and distribution networks, and clear information about visa and entry policies.
Brand USA works with communities and businesses throughout the United States to maximize the economic benefits of the international visitor economy. International travel to the United States generated $226 billion in U.S. exports in 2023, contributing to an overall $2.3 trillion industry that employs nearly 10 million Americans.
This FY26 Business Plan covers Brand USA’s targets, activities, and resources for the fiscal year from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
America The Beautiful: the unifying platform
Brand USA’s FY26 marketing activities are anchored by America The Beautiful, a new organization-wide platform designed to meet the current moment in travel. The platform serves as a rallying cry for U.S. travel, leveraging marquee global events to create a powerful, relevant message built on Americana and nostalgia rather than media clutter.
Three fundamentals guiding FY26 marketing
- Market prioritization: a comprehensive model aligns resources with market potential and high-spending, persuadable audiences.
- Research and insights: in-depth, continuous research shapes overall campaign messaging and market-specific activities in real time.
- Strategic interventions across the traveler journey: a targeted paid media strategy, a reimagined digital hub for personalized planning, always-on global communications, and focused travel trade engagement work together to convert consumer interest into traveler behavior.
Creative testing results
Creative testing for America The Beautiful confirmed a positive reception: 72% of respondents rated the advertising positively, with strong emotional response across several dimensions.
Audiences and segments
- Primary audience: prospective travelers who are open to visiting, have yet to decide, and value personal fulfillment over media narratives.
- Amplified audience (high-value travelers): individuals with both interest and economic means, drawn to exclusivity, social currency, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, live events, and product variety.
- Key audience segments: outdoor, family, luxury, and arts & culture.
2026 marquee moments
Three global events give the United States an extraordinary window of attention in 2026, and Brand USA is building content and partnerships around each.
America 250
The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Brand USA is building America 250 content for an all-new consumer website integrating travel industry partners, and using the moment for global earned media.
2026 FIFA World Cup
The single most significant focal point for global attention in summer 2026. Brand USA aims to help the U.S. eclipse the 3.5 million visiting fans and $5 billion economic impact Qatar saw in 2022, and serves on the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force.
Route 66 Centennial
The 100th anniversary of Route 66. Brand USA will use the milestone to drive visitors to the eight states along the route and celebrate American road trips broadly, partnering with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Great American Road Trip.”
Market selection: Tier 1 and Tier 2
Brand USA’s market selection model weighs country-level indicators (economic strength, technology infrastructure, openness) alongside U.S. inbound travel factors (airlift, market access, travel spending) to prioritize high-spending, persuadable audiences.
- Tier 1 Makets
- Argentina
- Australia
- Brazil
- France
- Germany
- India
- Ireland
- Japan
- South Korea
- United Kingdom
- Tier 2 Markets
- Canada
- Mexico
Beyond these tiers, Brand USA allocates up to 5% of its FY26 budget to additional markets for long-term development and as a hedge against major global shifts requiring reallocation.
Integrated marketing ecosystem
Brand and awareness building: a global advertising agency weaves America’s landscapes, cities, and cultural heritage into a unified campaign, with paid media emphasizing upper-funnel connected TV, over-the-top video, and online video, supported by paid social where warranted.
PR and earned media: Brand USA runs an always-on strategy generating more than 4,500 stories annually with over 17,000 partner mentions, including through the Visiting Journalist Program, organized around three storytelling pillars: marquee moments, thematic content (wellness, arts & culture, family travel), and new openings and route launches.
Social media and content creators: collaborations with content creators deliver authentic storytelling integrated with broader campaigns, optimized based on analytics and follower engagement.
Digital hub: Brand USA launched AmericaTheBeautiful.com as the new central, brand-level platform, building on the long-standing VisitTheUSA.com (both URLs now point to the new experience). The site features an AI itinerary-planning tool, a “Places to Go” section, hidden gems and signature experiences, AI translations with native linguist oversight, and interactive mapping to drive dispersal beyond major cities.
AI integration: AmericaTheBeautiful.com integrates Mindtrip’s AI technology for dynamic, conversational trip planning that adapts to individual preferences, plus AI-driven translations and contextual content recommendations. First-party data from AI interactions and digital engagement continuously informs content creation, partner opportunities, and strategic adjustments.
Travel trade engagement: a global network of in-market representatives drives sales through workshops, toolkits, contests, and an online training program, while cooperative campaigns with Expedia, Booking, Kayak, and Agoda convert inspiration into bookings.
B2B facilitation: Brand USA Travel Week UK & Europe remains the flagship European marketplace; FY26 adds a C-Suite immersion to the former India mission and debuts a new South America mission format in Rio de Janeiro, complemented by regional missions in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, plus ILTM Cannes and IMEX Frankfurt.
Travel trade activation: programs including Road Trips USA, Destination Immersions, and Product Immersions expand both seller capability and the availability of bookable U.S. travel products.
Partner integration: partners are featured on AmericaTheBeautiful.com through destination spotlights and thematic content, plus Optimized Audience Campaigns (full-funnel, direct-to-consumer programs with Expedia, Booking, Kayak, and Agoda) and Global Communications collaborations. Market-specific programs include Hays Travel and Travelbag (UK), CANUSA (Germany), Voyage Privé (France, new luxury program), Helloworld (Australia), Hindustan Times (India), Travelweek Canada, Air Miles Loyalty Program (Canada), and Price Travel (Mexico).
Multi-year strategic initiative: artificial intelligence
Brand USA’s AI strategy rests on three pillars:
- Operational excellence: AI-powered analytics generate first-party data from consumer interactions, enabling gap analysis and pattern recognition to spot emerging trends.
- Industry capacity building: Brand USA helps U.S. travel stakeholders navigate AI adoption and optimize content for AI discovery.
- Enhanced discovery and booking: Brand USA is structuring destination content for optimal AI parsing so U.S. experiences are prominently featured when AI assistants make recommendations or complete bookings on travelers’ behalf.
Business events (MICE)
While Brand USA’s primary focus is the larger leisure market, it plays a growing role in meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE). Brand USA organizes the USA Pavilion at IMEX Frankfurt, Germany’s largest show of its kind in Europe, connects stakeholders with overseas event planners, supports efforts to host major events, and communicates U.S. visa policy for organized groups.
