July 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.

Brand USA announces 3 million incremental rise in visitors to the U.S.

According to a study recently released by Oxford Economics, Brand USA, the destination-marketing organisation for the USA, generated more than 3 million incremental visitors from around the globe during the past three years. Those international visitors accounted for $9.5 billion in incremental spending, injecting more than $21 billion into the U.S. economy. During the fiscal year 2015, 1.03 million incremental visitors to the United States were generated. 2015 saw a rise of 18% in UK visitors with 4,900,823 arrivals with the U.S. welcoming 77,510,282 international visitors in total. (Source: NTTO) www.VisitTheUSA.com

Three airlines add extra U.S. flights from the UK

• Following the successful launch of Delta's inaugural service between Edinburgh and JFK this May, the airline has now announced a new direct flight route commencing on 26th May 2017 between Glasgow and New York JFK, the only non-stop flight on this route. This daily route – operating throughout summer – enables passengers from Glasgow a choice of 60 onward connections throughout the USA including Los Angeles, Orlando and San Francisco.
• United Airlines has announced it will increase the frequency of services to San Francisco and Los Angeles from London Heathrow. From 30th October 2016, a second daily London Heathrow to San Francisco service will commence and from 5th April 2017 a second daily London Heathrow to Los Angeles flight will also be added.
• Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW air will launch a new daily service from London Gatwick and Bristol airports to New York's Newark Liberty International Airport via Reykjavik from 25th November 2016. This expansion follows the successful launch of transatlantic flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C. from the UK earlier this year.

 www.VisitTheUSA.com / www.Delta.com / www.United.com / www.WOWair.com

From dancing to dogs – hot hotel news from across the USA

• The long-awaited Hotel Indigo has now opened its doors in Michigan's Traverse City, offering guests stunning views of West Bay, from rooftop bar the H&L Social, named after Traverse City's pioneering lumber, banking and shipping form, Hannah, Lay & Co. The property has a logging theme throughout paying homage to the areas industries. Walls and carpets feature stamps and brands once used by local logging companies, with corridors papered and carpeted to evoke woodland pathways.
• Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia is the resort used for filming of 80's classic Dirty Dancing, which will mark its 30th anniversary since the release in 2017. The Mountain Lake Lodge, AKA The Kellerman Resort which was renovated in 2012 now offers Dirty Dancing themed weekends taking place 29th – 31st July and 26th – 28th August 2016. The package includes dancing lessons, a guided walking tour and a watermelon toss, with guests urged not to put baby in the corner. Costs will vary on accommodations and meals.
• For the ultimate welcome, Parker, a one-eyed rescue pug has been hired as the concierge at the Park Hyatt on Chicago's famous Magnificent Mile. The exceptional employee has sparked social media interest from international visitors, dressed in a Burberry bandana with duties including following staff to meetings, riding the elevator and escorting guests to rooms.

www.VisitTheUSA.com/Michigan / www.VisitTheUSA.com/Virginia / www.VisitTheUSA.com/Chicago  

The USA's queen of art brings the beauty of the U.S. to the Tate Modern

Best known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York Skyscrapers and New Mexico landscapes, the Mother of American Modernism will have a retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern from 6th July – 30th October, presenting London with the rare chance of seeing her work outside of the USA. The exhibition will include Jimson Weed / White Flower No.1, painted by O'Keeffe in 1932, currently the most expensive painting by a female artist ever sold at auction and Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico. Those with a taste for the varied landscapes can see the vistas themselves by visiting the artist's home in Santa Fe and surrounding area. In the centre of Santa Fe the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum houses over 3,000 works, comprising 140 O'Keeffe oil paintings, 700 drawings and hundreds of additional works dated from 1901 – 1984, the year in which O'Keeffe's failing eyesight forced her into retirement. O'Keeffe's home and studio along the Chama River in Abiquiu, New Mexico is a national historic landmark, open for tours by appointment. www.visittheusa.com/NewMexico / www.okeeffemuseum.org / www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/georgia-okeeffe

Dead Horse Point State Park recognised for Dark Sky

Southwestern Utah's Dead Horse Point State Park has been designated as the state's sixth International Dark Sky Park, the first state park location to hold this accolade. The addition of Dead Horse Point State Park also means Utah is home to the highest concentration of International Dark Sky Parks in the world. To gain the designation, the park had to commit to protecting its natural darkness as well as educating visitors on the importance of natural night skies and works with Night Sky Rangers from both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as part of the National Park Service system. The 5,362-acre park – best known for its use in the iconic final 'Grand Canyon' scene in 1991's Thelma & Louise – boasts vertical cliffs surrounded by canyons carved by ice, water and wind that create a visual masterpiece. Positioned above the canyon walls, it is a spectacular location to see virtually unobstructed views of the night sky with sweeping, 360-degree panoramas. www.VisitTheUSA.com/Utah / www.darksky.org / www.stateparks.utah.gov/parks/dead-horse

Heroes & Legends and U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® to open at Kennedy Space Center

On 11th November 2016, guests of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida will be greeted with a dramatic arrival as the Heroes & Legends attraction featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® will open. Guests will embark on an awe-inspiring journey where they will be introduced to the heroes of the NASA space programme, the pioneers who worked to make space exploration possible, through cutting-edge technology, interactive elements and engaging exhibits which include a 4D multisensory theatre, a 360-degree discovery bay and a 365-degree cylinder with interactive kiosks telling stories of almost 100 astronauts in the Hall of Fame. www.visittheusa.com/Florida /  www.KennedySpaceCenter.com

Classic Car takeover in California and Kansas this summer

For ten days from 19th August, car connoisseurs and enthusiasts from around the world will gather on the Monterey Peninsula to celebrate automotive design and engineering. In a series of signature events by The Peninsula Hotels group, the main event is The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. Combining the lush setting on a golf course with the back drop of the Santa Lucia mountain range and the finest examples of vintage sporting automobiles, sponsors provide today's top luxury cars to be sampled by guests on local road, with the opportunity for visitors to test their mettle on the Land Rover Experience Driving School off-road course. Elsewhere, across the Sunflower State classic car and street rodding enthusiasts will also be spinning their wheels throughout summer. The Smoky Valley Classic Car Show taking place on 6th August in Lindsborg, Kansas, will showcase more than 100 classic cars for visiting motor enthusiasts to admire. Awards include 'Police Chief's Choice' and the Kansas Highway Patrol award for the 'car most likely to be stopped for no reason at all'. www.VisitTheUSA.com/Kansas / www.VisitTheUSA.com/California / www.visitlindsborg.com / http://signatureevents.peninsula.com/en/motorsports/motorsports.html 

-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