Overview
Oxford Economics, in coordination with its Tourism Economics subsidiary company, conducted a detailed analysis of the return on investment of Brand USA’s marketing in its 2022 fiscal year. Due to Covid-19, the benefits of marketing activities were constrained, especially from markets that were closed to travel for portions, or all, of the year. An econometric model, based on ad tracking surveys, market share analysis, and Brand USA measurements of market engagement informed the analysis of incremental visits and spending generated by Brand USA. Results were further validated and refined based on mobile device tracking of visitors who were exposed to Brand USA marketing based on analysis from the research firm Arrivalist. Impacts are measured for Brand USA marketing investments during FY2022 (Oct 2021-Sept 2022).
Brand USA ROI
Brand USA marketing generated 327,977 visits to the US in FY2022. This was 0.6% of all visitors to the US in 2022.
Across all markets, each dollar of Brand USA marketing generated $11.18 of visitor spending. Including all operating overhead, Brand USA achieved an ROI of $10.20 per
dollar invested and generated $905 million in visitor spending. Over the last ten years, Brand USA has generated $26.4 billion in international visitor
spending with an implicit ROI of $21.33 in visitor spending and $3.23 in Federal tax receipts per budget dollar invested.
Brand USA economic impact
Brand USA generated $905 million in incremental visitor spending to the US in FY2022. Including indirect and induced impacts, a total of $1.9 billion in economic activity wasgenerated by Brand USA. This economic activity generated by Brand USA sustained 12,132 jobs earning $563 million in personal income. Brand USA generated incremental federal, state, and local taxes in FY2022 of $261 million. US international inbound market performance
The early part of FY2022 was heavily affected by travel restrictions and the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Nevertheless, international travel steadily rebounded throughout 2022, receiving 50.9 million visitors for the year. This was 36% below 2019 levels but a
vast improvement over the 72% shortfall in 2021.
- Western Europe progressively recovered, registering visits 29% below 2019 for the
year but averaging a 20% shortfall over the final three months of 2022. - South America posted a 26% decline relative to 2019, with a 20% shortfall over the
final three months of 2022. - Asian travel suffered the most with a 66% shortfall for the year and modest signs of
recovery in the final quarter of 2022. - Canada and Mexico recovered to within 31% and 32% of 2019 volumes, respectively.
The vital role of destination promotion Destination marketing plays an integral and indispensable role in the competitiveness of
the local and national visitor economy, and acts as a catalyst for economic development. Brand USA serves a valuable function by promoting the US collectively
with the scale necessary to gain share of voice in an increasingly competitive global
marketplace
