Having a board chair who is a meetings industry veteran that knows the ways of Washington, D.C., is a definite advantage for Brand USA, which recently welcomed Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, to a one-year term helping steer the organization that markets the U.S. to international leisure and MICE visitors.
“I would say the low-hanging fruit for a Brand USA is the fact that I’m down the street,” Ferguson joked. “But there’s something to be said about having someone that is actively involved in the industry in Washington; my leadership of formerly chairing the U.S. Travel Association and still being actively involved in Tourism Diversity Matters and the Travel Tourism Advisory Board under [the U.S. Secretary of Commerce]. I’m positioned, if you will, to be supportive of [Brand USA President & CEO] Fred Dixon and the efforts of Brand USA, as he is roughly three-and-a-half, maybe four months into the next iteration of how that how that marketing of the United States should take place.”
[Related: Destination DC’s Elliott Ferguson on How the 2024 Election Will Impact Meetings and Events]
A MICE industry veteran as well as leading the promotion of leisure tourism in his role at Destination DC, Ferguson said he will endeavor to increase the MICE industry’s influence at Brand USA during his one-year term.
“I would say for the first 10-plus years of Brand USA’s existence, it’s been primarily focused on the leisure market, the international leisure market, coming to the U.S.,” he said. “I’ve been on the board for a little over three years and I’ve been more bullish on including the MICE market. My 35 years in the industry mostly was tied to conventions, and when I took over 16-plus years ago at Destination DC, I became more immersed in the leisure side. Under the new leadership, and really starting with the former leadership under Chris Thompson, they’ve been more actively involved in including the MICE market simply because of the opportunities that exist with visitors coming for meetings and staying for leisure.”
Key Challenges for Inbound Tourism
Ferguson and his colleagues who market the U.S. to the international tourism market tend to agree that one challenge rises to the fore: the challenge of visas for inbound visitors, whether for leisure or MICE programs.
“I think the key thing that we continue to focus on would be the issuance of visas,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that getting into the United States is a process that is focusing on safety and security but is expedited. We have to continue to look at ways of using technology to make that feasible, which is something the [U.S.] Travel and Tourism Advisory Board does in terms of making suggestions to the various components of federal government. And we’ve got to focus on getting additional nonstop international flights.”
Working With the ‘New’ Administration
As with all organizations focused on working with the federal government, a change in presidential administrations always presents a challenge, no matter what party is taking control. Since the incoming Trump Administration will in effect be a second term, however, a degree of familiarity should make the job easier.
“The reality is this is a second term for this administration,” Ferguson said. “Under the first term of the administration, we saw strong visitation from the global community. So, we focus on the ‘glass-half-full’ scenario of the aspirational aspects of coming to the U.S.; the interest of the global community who want to travel to the United States.
How do we capitalize on that? How do we leverage this new administration?
It’s clearly the president, but it’s equally as much the cabinet members and people that he puts in power, to understand the economic impact of hospitality, the jobs created; the low-hanging fruit associated with global tourism or visitors coming to our cities and leaving an economic footprint.”
Ferguson agreed that President-elect Trump’s familiarity with the hospitality industry, being the owner of a major global hotel brand, as well as a prospective secretary of state in Marco Rubio that hails from the tourism-dependent state of Florida, may help in delivering the message about the need to robustly market the U.S. internationally.
A Broader Message
Long an advocate for diversity, inclusion and furthering the economic prospects of under-represented communities, Ferguson also believes that the hospitality industry can represent a major way forward for those aspiring to climb the economic ladder.
[Related: Where Are We Four Years After the Murder of George Floyd? Elliott L. Ferguson II Offers Perspective.]
“I am the executive in residence at the Marriott-Sorensen Center for Hospitality Leadership at Howard University, and the gift from the Marriott Foundation to Howard is tied to the effort to bring more minority students or expose more minority students to hospitality,” Ferguson offered. “But to look at verticals such as the engineering school, the architecture school, the marine biology programs—there are career opportunities within hospitality. The ‘aha’ moment is not necessarily there by for 90% of the planet that doesn’t truly understand the impact of hospitality in creating jobs and the diversity of jobs that exist.”
Ferguson’s commitment to diversity and inclusion also extends to the markets he believes Brand USA should reach out to more.
“Let’s not forget the 50-plus countries in Africa, and let’s not forget about the Caribbean and other components of the global community that travel,” he stressed. “We will never grow those markets if we’re not present, and let’s continue to focus on diversity in our advertising, listening to the rhetoric associated with DEI today but still making it a priority, and making sure that we’re focusing the marketing around the USA to younger generations. Let’s make sure that we are relevant and we are positioning ourselves to captivate audiences using new channels and new technologies such as AI. These are things that Fred [Dixon] has talked about.
“And one thing that I know Fred will do in terms of leading this organization is include the planners in our plans to go after their markets because they can give us the feedback that is necessary for us,” he added.
Read next: Destination DC’s Elliott Ferguson II on the Role of DMOs on DEI]
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