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Welcome to the new Travel South newsletter. In our continued efforts to keep you updated on programs and opportunities, you'll be receiving this monthly. Look for information on new marketing programs, articles on successes around the region and upcoming events.
DEAR VALUED MEMBERS AND TRAVEL COLLEAGUES,
In late November 2021, we gathered for Travel South International Showcase & Super FAMs and successfully demonstrated how the South and its partners are ready to welcome back global travelers and showcase that safe travel is possible again.
We are now ready to ramp up a strong lineup of marketing and advertising activations, partner programs and digital campaigns to capitalize on the global travel boom! Our collaborative promotional efforts, campaigns and leveraged investments target the countries that comprised 90% of visitation to the South in 2019, primarily Canada, Europe, Latin America and Oceania.
The excellent insights and partnership we have developed with world-class research companies combined with “boots on the ground” reporting reflects the success of well-developed strategies and tactics. We invest in Always-on Content combined with focused Trade & PR relationship-building to carry the message: the South is open, ready and welcoming – Welcome Back, All Y’all.
Midway through the fiscal year, we have garnered a good portfolio of media coverage with more than 1,000 articles published and 69.8 million impressions gathered—numbers set us on a track to surpass our record fiscal year in 2019. Our social media channels have already exceeded our 2019 metrics and KPIs with 23 million impressions and 418K engagements. Organic traffic continued to deliver yearly increases on visittheusa.com/travelsouth, with increased time on site, engaging with content. We are already at 70% of our 2019 pageviews at the six-month mark, with campaigns in Canada, the UK and Germany beginning in early March.
We have a year-round representation in-market with six offices across the globe and contract projects in Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Oceania. So far, we have hosted more than 280 trade meetings, trained more than 2,000 agents with our custom training modules and engaged notable travel influencers.
I invite you to join us in April at our Global Summit in Atlanta, which will feature a terrific lineup of speakers, and we will share our next 18-month marketing, advertising and promotional plan. And I hope you will be at IPW in June, where Travel South USA will host a Welcome Back Concert signature event. Tickets will be available starting March 9th; contact TSUSA.
We are accomplishing great things through our shared efforts — and this is just the beginning. This is the year when international travelers will return to the South in record numbers. Together, we can accelerate our goal of returning to $10 Billion of direct visitor spending in the region.
Thank you for joining me to welcome them back.
Sincerely,
C. RAY
Director, Visit Mississippi & Chairman, Travel South USA |
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| MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES |
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ALL Y'ALL ARE WELCOME CONCERT @ IPW
Ambassador sponsorship packages are available for the Travel South USA private concert in Orlando. Don’t miss this opportunity to network on Saturday evening with Grammy-award winning musicians. Reach out to Angelica@TravelSouthUSA.com. |
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| SOUTHERN SUCCESSES |
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HOTELBEDS CAMPAIGN IS THE GATEWAY TO THE TRAVELTRADE INDUSTRY
The world’s largest B2B accommodation provider targets travel operators and more.
As the world’s largest B2B accommodation provider, HotelBeds direct contracts hundreds of thousands of hotels and distributes special, negotiated rates to travel agents, tour operators, loyalty point redemptions programs, employee benefit programs and more. Travel South’s recent campaign with HotelBeds targets three major international markets (Canada, Germany and the U.K.), plus domestic travelers, positioning the Southern U.S. region as a key player in the booming return of tourism. The six-month campaign (October 2021–March 2022) leveraged contracted promotional rates in these target source markets, producing incremental tourism for the 25 participating Travel South destinations. Joseph Sheller, Head of Global Destination Marketing, shares what destinations should be prepared for as travelers are looking to plan their next vacations—add how secondary and tertiary cities can capture that demand as well. |
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| IN THE NEWS |
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BRINGING CANADIAN TRAVELERS TO THE SOUTH
Experts predict that Canada will be the #1 market to the United States beginning spring of 2022. To capture this opportunity, Travel South partnered with Reach Global Marketing to tap into this market to bring Canadian travelers to the South. |
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| BY THE NUMBERS |
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| During the first half of fiscal 2022, Travel South's international social media channels generated: |
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24.2M
IMPRESSIONS |
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20,418
ENGAGEMENTS |
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5.8M
PEOPLE REACHED |
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
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GLOBAL SUMMIT
April 18-19
Join featured speakers with insights and expertise on the return of international travel and the changing landscape of global travel. |
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