MVA joins Brand USA Australia Road Show

In a bid to explore the potential of Australia as a new source market for the Marianas, the Marianas Visitors Authority recently joined the Brand USA Road Show to meet with travel trade representatives in three of the country’s biggest cities.

The Brand USA Australia Road Show—hosted in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane last month—gave the MVA the opportunity to reach nearly 600 travel agents and other industry representatives and share about the Marianas. In addition, 20 travel agents requested B2B [business-to-business] meetings with the MVA in Sydney, where more detailed discussion was held on tourism opportunities in the Marianas.

“Australia is a very different market than our long-standing markets of Japan, Korea, and China, and we gained some valuable insights in our discussions,” said MVA managing director Christopher A. Concepcion. “For example, right now most Australians traveling in the Asia-Pacific region are going to Japan, so we had a few discussions about the potential for positioning the Marianas as an ‘add-on’ to trips to Japan. The identification of any new market takes considerable research, time, and funding, and the MVA’s doors will remain open to those industry partners who may be interested in exploring this opportunity further.”

The event was led by Consul General Christine Elder of the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney. Also participating in the Sydney road show was Steve Knode, senior commercial officer for Australia & New Zealand and former senior commercial officer in Japan, who is already familiar with the Marianas and the work of the MVA.

The Marianas was the only U.S. protectorate to promote itself as a tourism destination at expo.

Brand USA is an organization dedicated to marketing the United States as a premier travel destination. 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. Brand USA is governed by an 11-member board of directors appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. (MVA)