Brand USA joined the International Coalition of Tourism Partners as a Council member

Today Brand USA joined the Hawaii, Brussels, and Seychelles-based International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) as a new destination and a Council member.

Alfredo Gonzalez joined the ICTP council to represent the national tourism brand of the United States of America at ICTP.

Within just 2 1/2 years, more than 100 destinations ministries of tourism and tourism boards joined ICTP [ www.ictp.travel ] and made a commitment to green growth and quality.

The British Virgin Island Tourism Board, the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation, the Ghana Wildlife Division, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and the Tourism Board of Mali Losinji, Croatia also just joined ICTP.

Alfredo Gonzalez is senior vice president, global partnership development for Brand USA, the public-private partnership responsible for launching the United States’ first-ever, nationally-coordinated tourism marketing effort to increase international visitation to the United States. In this role, Alfredo is responsible for promoting the United States as a premier travel destination by expanding Brand USA’s international representation network and travel trade outreach, as well as developing cooperative partnership programs with international trade and media partners. Alfredo joined Brand USA in April 2013 following 14 years with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB). As vice president of tourism and international business for GFLCVB, Alfredo helped shepherd record visitation and spend to Florida from international markets and led the bureau’s successful air-service development initiative, which enabled the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to attract new carriers and an influx of international travelers from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Colombia, and Mexico. As a result of these and other efforts, he was presented the Routes Destination Marketing Award at the 2013 Route Americas conference in Cartagena, Colombia.

The award recognizes the best destination marketing campaign by a tourism authority. Alfredo has been a passionate member of the travel industry for nearly 30 years, launching his career with the Orlando Airport Marriott in 1985. In 1989, he joined Concord Resorts as director of Latin American sales. In 1993, CFI Resorts Management asked him to establish the international sales program for its timeshare resorts.

Having established a strong track record in international sales at CFI and subsequently at Palace Resorts and Bancor Leaders in Travel, Inc., Alfredo joined the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB in 1999 as head of its international sales department. He was promoted to vice president in 2004. An active member of the industry, Alfredo is vice chair of VISIT FLORIDA’s International Committee and a member of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). He sits on the board of the Miami Chapter of SKAL and the advisory board of Routes International. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and conversational in French.

Brand USA was established by the Travel Promotion Act to spearhead the nation’s first global marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures to worldwide travelers. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA.

Brand USA works in close partnership with the travel industry to maximize the economic and social benefits of travel. These benefits include fostering understanding between people and cultures, and creating jobs essential to the economy.

The organization’s activities are funded at no cost to U.S. taxpayers through a combination of private-sector investment and matching funds collected by the U.S. government from international visitors who come to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program.

Through its call-to-action—Discover America—Brand USA inspires travelers to explore the United States of America’s boundless possibilities.

Mission
The mission of Brand USA is to encourage increased international visitation to the United States and to grow America’s share of the global travel market. In doing so, it aims to bring millions of new international visitors who spend billions of dollars to the United States, creating tens of thousands of new American jobs.

Vision
Brand USA will be responsible for positioning and promoting the United States as a compelling destination for international travelers, inspiring visitors with a refreshed understanding that there is no place in the world like the United States of America with its limitless destinations and attractions. It will build a world-class team and organization that will execute an integrated marketing and communications strategy designed to deliver the highest possible return for the United States—in the form of job creation, GDP and export growth, and increased federal tax revenues.

Brand USA Role in the Travel Industry
Brand USA plays a unique role as the nation’s first cooperative destination marketing organization. It focuses its efforts on delivering programs and platforms that increase awareness and enhance the image of the United States among worldwide travelers in order to influence intent to travel to the United States and, most importantly, visitation and spend.

See more on Brand USA: http://www.thebrandusa.com
More on ICTP at: http://www.ictp.travel

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