Brand USA, America’s destination management organisation, has had enough of would-be visitors being dissuaded by “misperceptions.” So, to improve those consumers’ grasp of the “facts,” the tourist board has launched two new campaigns.
The first is called “Get Facts. Get Going,” and is an initiative intended to combat fake news or rumours damaging to US travel.“ ‘Get Facts. Get Going’ serves as a single source of information to address misperceptions head-on,” the DMO said at a launch event during the US Travel Association’s international pow-wow (IPW) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The move comes in the wake of consecutive months of tumbling visitor arrivals and bookings to the States—a phenomenon some have dubbed the “Trump Slump” due to what are seen as President Donald Trump’s off-putting foreign policy statements and tightened border controls.
Covering everything from visa requirements to entry procedures, and national park pricing, ‘Get Facts. Get Going’ comes as part of an expansion of the brand’s “America the Beautiful” platform. The campaign aims to let international visitors know “that we are open for business and warmly welcome them,” the organisers said.
The second prong of the charm offensive has been baptised “American Originals.” In its introductory statement, Brand USA said the effort here would be on spotlighting “the people and places who originated the styles, sounds, and tastes the world loves.”
However, amid an ongoing oil crisis prompted by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, alongside worldwide financial uncertainty and job insecurity many blame on US tech’s AI development and Trumpian trade tariffs, some critics and online commentary have already dismissed the move as tone-deaf.
As Skift has pointed out, it’s all very well wanting to reassure consumers over “misperceptions” but “concerns grounded in reality will be more challenging to address.”
That reality is an outright travel ban and immigration pause for some foreign nationals, additional travel expenses in the form of a visa bond requirement ranging from $5 to $15,000 for citizens from over 50 different countries, ICE raids that have killed US citizens, and border checks so vigilant that even elderly grandmothers on roadtrips have been incarcerated.
Travel stakeholders in the States have been sounding the alarm about job losses in the sector for over a year. Though the US has finally lifted the bond requirement for football fans holding tickets for the men’s FIFA World Cup 2026 and Brand USA is now determined to reverse the negative trend with its factchecking platform—it remains to be seen whether those moves are too little, too late.
