International

TSUSA HOSTS FOREIGN JOURNALIST

First Class is a French weekly magazine which has been in existence for 26 years. The magazine features people, luxury and lifestyle and targets jet set society and international business executives. First Class is distributed at concierge and front desks of upscale hotels, gourmet restaurants, hair salons and airport lounges in Paris, Deauville, Cannes, Saint-Tropez and Monaco. The articles will be published  in early November  (circulation: 75,000).

Papilles is a high quality French gourmet magazine with quarterly features on Gourmet Getaways and sold on newsstands   (circulation: 120,000).  

France ranked #5 for international overseas overnight visitors to the Travel South Region in 2010 and generated an economic impact of $71 million.

Thank you to the many partners providing southern hospitality to these important journalists including; St Regis Hotel Atlanta, World of Coke, Inside CNN Studios, Atlanta Falcons Football, Margaret Mitchell House, Savannah Dan Walking Tours, Olde Pink House, Hamilton Turner Inn, Leopold Ice Cream, Christine Waggoner Tour Guide, Middleton Place Restaurant, Slightly North of Broad, Charming Inns of Charleston, Harvest Moon Grill, Levine Museum, Haunted Segway Tours of Charlotte, Aloft Hotel, U.S. National Whitewater Center, Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa and Biltmore Estates.

TSUSA RETURNS FROM ITALY, FRANCE

Our inaugural mission to France & Italy was an overwhelming success. Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina participated. We have already scheduled three site visits and confirmed new destinations in one operators’ program since returning! The media event in Paris also has produced immediate results. During the visit, we met with Delta Air Lines, who agreed to provide 6-8 tickets for French operators/journalists to Atlanta for Showcase.

Our meetings with US Air were also very productive and we hope to have programming featuring Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Cincinnati/Northern KY and Dulles gateways. We had a very encouraging meeting with the US Commercial Service in Italy, and will be submitting a proposal for Platinum Key Services to provide in-country project based support thru June, 2011. This would give us some assistance in Italy, until we have federal grant monies available for full scale representation.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

As a 42 year old marketing alliance, the Travel South USA Board of Directors remains steadfast in our mission to foster, encourage and promote travel to and within the 12 southern states. Travel South also generates a highly successful campaign that has steadily increased the number of Canadian visitors in destinations throughout the South since 2005.

For more information or to join our partner activities contact Travel South USA

TRAVEL SOUTH USA DELEGATION TRAVELS ON A MOMENTOUS MISSION TO CHINA

November 2008
State Travel Directors along with destination partners and Delta Air Lines successfully concluded a 10 day business development mission to Beijing and Shanghi

Last year, close to 400,000 Chinese visited the United States marking a 59 percent increase since 2000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department

CHINA - The Travel South USA delegation of state travel directors and marketing officers partnered with Delta Air Lines to travel to the People’s Republic of China, November 12 - 23, 2008. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee state travel directors had a full schedule of business development meetings with the Provincial Tourism Ministers of China, Chinese journalists and tour operators to discuss new tourism programs. This is the first time Travel South ’s regional partnership has organized a mission to China.

“China is currently the most significant emerging market for outbound international travel,” said Chad Prosser, Travel South USA Chairman and Director of South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism. “This is an excellent opportunity for our Travel South states to establish a positive connection with one of the fastest-growing international leisure travel markets.”

Details of the mission included an official reception in Beijing, business meetings, participation in the US-China State Tourism Summit and scheduled appointments during China International Travel Mart (CITM), the largest travel show in China.

"We are thrilled to partner with Travel South and the state travel directors and marketing officers to help them foster links with travel organizations in China,” said Bobby Spann, Director, Sales Development- International and Alliances “Our new nonstop flight between Atlanta and Shanghai-Pudong brings a unique and powerful economic opportunity to the business and leisure segments of the Southeastern United States.”

The seventeen-person delegation believes this is an important time to promote the region because of the recent changes in Department of Commerce regulations and new airline service, which allows inbound leisure travel from China to the United States not only possible, but imminent. Under a bilateral travel agreement, signed in December 2007, the United States and China now have the necessary framework to permit group leisure travel from China to the United States. Prior to the agreement, Chinese regulations restricted companies from organizing and marketing package tours for leisure purposes to countries that do not have Approved Destination Status agreements (ADS). The Leisure Travel Memorandum of Understanding fulfills this purpose without changing existing laws or policies of the United States.

TRAVEL SOUTH USA BRINGS THE SOUTH TO TORONTO THIS SPRING!

May 2008
Travel South has partnered with 16 state agricultural agencies of the Southeastern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) and Longo's Grocery stores to bring the best of Southern cooking and fresh produce to the Greater Toronto Area. This campaign, which will be held May 7-10,
2008 will showcase the best of southern tourism and agricultural products that can be found within the Toronto area. Armed with 3 ultimate southern culinary ambassadors, Travel South USA and SUSTA will be hosting in-store cooking demonstrations, a retail display contest for Longo's employees, an exclusive consumer giveaway to Charleston, South Carolina and Virginia Beach, Virginia donate by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) as well as a unique Southern cooking class at the brand new Burloak location.

To kick off the Spring Discover the Flavours of the South campaign, Travel South will host a reception at the Consul General's residence in Toronto where the United States Ambassador, David Wilkins, is scheduled to attend. The reception will feature samplings of southern fruits, vegetables and seafood delights such as Sautéed Peaches, Shrimp & Grits and Appalachian Egg Rolls. These delicacies will be created by renowned Southern Chefs from Alabama, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Fine wines from Virginia and North Carolina vineyards will be on hand, as well as tasty samples of produce exported from the southern USA into Canada. Visit us online at www.TravelSouthFlavours.com for more information.

TRAVEL SOUTH EXHIBITS AT CAA NIAGARA CONSUMER SHOW

Close to 60% of Canadians drive to the southern USA while 37% travel by air, using one of the 30 international airports available in the 12 states. While travel patterns vary based on the seasonality of the region, 29% of Canadians travel to the south between January and March, 25% April thru June, 19% July thru September and 26% October thru December.

Last year, the Southern Ontario CAA issued almost 54,000 trip ticks and booked millions of dollars in vacation packages to destinations such as Busch Gardens Virginia and Florida, Disney World and the 1,900 miles of beach and golf destinations along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. We believe strengthening a strategic partnership with CAA would be advantageous for all southern states and attractive to CAA in support of their membership.

A key objective of the Travel South USA 2007-2008 marketing plan is to provide more trip planning tools to prospective visitors. Trip planning itineraries serve two important purposes. First, itineraries provide an easy solution to travelers looking for a quick way to plan a fun trip. Second, for travelers who prefer a more hands-on approach to planning custom trips for themselves, itineraries serve as a valuable “idea generator.”

TSUSA has partnered with three clubs of the Canadian Automobile Association in collaboration with ATI-South to provide established city break packages, fly-drive, special events, getaway packages and FIT style dynamic packaging. These CAA Exclusive Getaways - are titled the Travel South Collection. Read more on this innovative partnership in the marketing plan and call us to get involved in future programs.