Brand USA has announced that it is introducing VisitTheUSA.com as its new global consumer website address to reach international travellers. Brand USA’s current consumer website address, DiscoverAmerica.com, will continue to be live in the market place.
The new URL is being introduced over the course of Brand USA’s 2016 fiscal year in all markets where the organization currently promotes travel to the United States, with the exception of China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Taiwan. In those markets, Brand USA’s online consumer presence is promoted to travellers as GoUSA.com (and the related in-country extensions), because consumer testing indicated the GoUSA address resonated more clearly with travellers in those markets.
Brand USA’s business-to-business and corporate URL address will continue to be found at TheBrandUSA.com.
“We expect to complete the introduction to VisitTheUSA over the course of several months through a purposeful, soft launch that enables us to fully test and optimize the site as we also begin work to enhance the content and functionality of our consumer website and evolve our consumer marketing campaigns,” said Christopher L. Thompson, Brand USA’s president and CEO.
Thompson cited several reasons for introducing a new website URL as its core online presence, including its strong alignment with its mission to welcome and increase the number of travellers who visit the United States, as well as the fact that “America” is more than just the USA.
“In many parts of the world, we found that international travellers felt our use of ‘America’ in our current consumer website address was overreaching, because America is comprised of more than just the United States. While ‘America” resonates strongly in many parts of the world, in others the Americas refers to one continent comprised of North, Central, and South America,” Thompson said. “And those three subcontinents include 35 different countries.”