June 2016 - Welcome to Brand USA's monthly media newsletter with all the top stateside news spanning the next few months. Please include the URL www.VisitTheUSA.com / www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk to entice your readers with more USA adventures.

Portland and Las Vegas flights added from the UK

Delta has announced a new direct flight route commencing on 26th May 2017 between London Heathrow and Portland, Oregon. The four-times-weekly service will be the first to directly connect the UK with the hip city of Portland (pictured) and its easy access to the Oregon coastline. Delta will also take over Virgin's London Heathrow to Detroit service from 26th March 2017, increasing its frequency for this route to twice-daily. Low-cost carrier, Norwegian, has also announced the introduction of their new route between London Heathrow and Las Vegas from this October with one-way fares from £179. www.VisitTheUSA.com/Portland / www.VisitTheUSA.com/LasVegas / www.Delta.com / www.Norwegian.com

Hot hotel openings this summer

Inspired by the close shoreline it overlooks, the Jade Ocean Hotel (pictured) has just opened its doors in Sunny Isle Beach, Miami. A six-storey waterfall lines the entrance with infinity pools looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, whilst inside guests can relax in a private cinema or hit the Technogym, equipped with the latest technology. Leading boutique hotel and restaurant company, Kimpton, has also just opened The Cardinal Hotel, Winston-Salem, Kimpton's first hotel in the Carolinas. The hotel occupies the first six floors of the iconic former R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Headquartes, which served as the prototype for the Empire State Building, with décor highlighting its Art Deco architecture. Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel in Washington, D.C. brings the hotel brand to the buzzing 14th Street neighbourhood, offering visitors to the nation's capital proximity to some of the city's coolest eateries and nightlife, with a chic penthouse deck with rooftop swimming pool for a calm oasis above the city, as well as a bar featuring a 50-seat outdoor patio where cocktails are served in front of a large fire pit.  www.VisitTheUSA.com/Miami  / www.VisitTheUSA.com/NorthCarolina / www.visittheusa.com/usa/states/washington-dc.aspx / www.jadeoceanmiami.com / www.kimptonhotels.com

Pikes Peak holds its 100th running

First completed in 1916, The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second oldest motor sports race in the U.S. and a long standing tradition in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region. The race takes place on a 12.42-mile course with 156 turns, beginning at 9,390 feet and finishing at the 14,115 foot summit of Pikes Peak, with extreme altitude levels increasing the challenge. Visitors can watch the big event on 26th June 2016 from designated viewing areas as competitors and vehicles struggle to finish in the thin air at the summit, as well as taking part in the fan fest on 24th June, where the competitors can be seen as they prepare to take on the mountain. www.VisitTheUSA.com/Colorado / www.ppihc.com

Key West to have their pie and eat it

The Key Lime Festival returns to Key West from 2nd – 4th July, one of the Florida Keys' quirkiest festivals, ensuring visitors a taste of the island's culinary icon. Limes have flavoured Florida Keys cuisine since 1800s and will be celebrated across the weekend with highlights including a Key lime pie eating contest, cooking classes and the opportunity to visit a secret lair containing the world's smallest Key lime pie, washed down with samplings of Key lime rum and cocktails.

www.VisitTheUSA.com/floridakeys  / www.keylimefestival.com

Lake Michigan to host America's Cup

Lake Michigan, Chicago has been chosen as the first freshwater venue to host America's Cup racing in the event's 164 year history. The Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago, a qualifying event for the 2017 America's cup in Bermuda, will take place from 10th – 12th June at Navy Pier, which celebrates its centennial year. The catamarans, which will race at 40mph close to the shore, can be viewed by visitors with ticketed viewing areas, entertainment and VIP hospitality set up for fans. www.VisitTheUSA.com/Chicago / www.americascup.com

Taste the best of the Big Apple during New York Restaurant Week

Visitors to New York City can sample the very best of the cultural melting pot's fine dining at affordable prices from 25th July – 19th August. A number of restaurants across the city will offer three-course prix-fixe menus with specially priced lunches at $29 (approx. £20) and dinners for $42 (approx. £29). More than 360 restaurants take part in this foodie go-to event, which last year included James Beard Award winner Koren Grieveson's French food revival restaurant, Claudette; East Asian honky-tonk, Pig and Khao; and Root & Bone, from TV chef's Janine Booth and Jeff McInnis. www.VisitTheUSA.com/NewYork / www.nycgo.com/restaurant-week 

Tom Sawyer turns 140

2016 marks 140 years since Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in his home town of Hannibal, Missouri. Mark Twain mania will reach its height next month over July 4th weekend when 100,000 people turn out for National Tom Sawyer Days, a special time marked by a small-town parade, fireworks and activities inspired by Twain's books such as the crowning of the town's new Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher, a competition among local 7th graders (12- to 13-year-olds) since the 1950s. Visitors can discover the world behind Mark Twain's famous novels while in Hannibal, from Mark Twain's boyhood home, including Tom Sawyer's famous fence where Sawyer persuaded his gang to pay him for the privilege of whitewashing, as well as the very cave that made Mark Twain famous and a cruise aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat.  www.VisitTheUSA.com/Missouri / www.visitmo.com  

-ENDS-

Discover this land, like never before VisitTheUSA.com

Brand USA is the public-private partnership responsible for promoting the United States as a premier travel destination and communicating U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures. Established by the Travel Promotion Act in 2010, the organisation's mission is to increase international visitation to the United States while working in partnership with the travel industry to maximise the economic and social benefits of travel. These benefits include creating jobs essential to the economy and fostering understanding between people and cultures. For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com.

For information about travel to and around the United States, please visit Brand USA's consumer website at VisitTheUSA.com / VisitTheUSA.co.uk

For further Brand USA, UK/Ireland press information, contact:

Polly Beech / Sarah Barnett / Allie Williams

pbeech@thebrandusa.co.uk / sbarnett@thebrandusa.co.uk / awilliams@thebrandusa.co.uk

020 7845 6359 / 020 7845 6378 / 020 7845 6384