February 2017 - 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.

Visitors to the U.S. Virgin Islands are getting paid as it celebrates 100th birthday

The three islands comprising the U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix – are celebrating their centennial on 31st March 2017 and are rewarding its visitors throughout the milestone year. Visit USVI – the official tourist board of the U.S. Virgin Islands – is giving $300 to holidaymakers during 2017 for trips booked by 1st October (when staying three consecutive nights at participating hotels). The cash incentive can be exchanged for historical and cultural tours and activities across the three islands, with visitors in March also receiving a special centennial souvenir and having the opportunity to join centenary celebrations throughout the month. Travellers seeking cultural sites should head to Charlotte Amalie, capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands territory on St. Thomas, whilst nature lovers should head to the bioluminescent bays on St. Croix at the Sal River Bay National Historic Park. www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk/state/us-virgin-islands / www.usvi.com

Philadelphia to open American Revolution Museum in April

Philadelphia is welcoming a new museum on 19th April to further cement the UNESCO World Heritage city's significance to American History and its founding fathers. Opening on the 242nd anniversary of the 'shot heard round the world' that ignited the Revolutionary War, the Museum of the American Revolution will take visitors on a journey through the story of the USA's founding, across four floors of exhibition galleries. The museum will be home to a number of George Washington's personal belongings and an assortment of weaponry, personal items, fine art, printed works and manuscripts dating back to the American Revolution. Located in the historic heart of the city, the museum resides two blocks from Independence Hall and across the street from Carpenter's Hall, where the Constitutional Congress first met. www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk/destination/philadelphia / www.discoverPHL.com / www.amrevmuseum.org  

The USA's original flapper remembered in new TV series

Z: The Beginning of Everything details the southern belle who became the original flapper and icon of the USA's Jazz Age. A new 10-part series on Amazon Prime starring Christina Ricci showcases the sleepy southern roots of the American icon, with Montgomery, Alabama as Zelda's adolescent playground. For these scenes, Savannah, Georgia also stood in for Zelda's hometown, with a local Savannah home serving as the Sayre house and a former plantation as the country club where F. Scott Fitzgerald first saw Zelda, in the second episode. As the series progresses, filming locations head north to New York City as the lovers begin their glamourous lifestyle – starting with their honeymoon at The Biltmore – and on Long Island, which was used for scenes representing Westport, Connecticut, where the couple settle. Scenes of Penn Station were filmed in New York County Supreme Court with Grace Church used as St. Patrick's Cathedral. www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk  

Kentucky holds Man O' War Celebration

Home of the USA's renowned derby, Kentucky is celebrating the 100th anniversary of history's most famous racehorse, Man O' War, with events commencing in March. Kentucky Horse Park is creating a year-long Man O' War celebration of the Kentucky legend both at the park and throughout Lexington, with a launch event on 29th March which will be Man O' War's 100th birthday, marked also by the opening of a dedicated museum exhibit. Events throughout the year include High Hope Steeple Chase in May and June, a bike ride with jerseys in Man O' War's silk colours, a Man O' War thoroughbred makeover and recognition of his passing in November.

www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk/state/kentucky  / www.kyhorsepark.com

Indiana raises a glass to Vonnegut

The mayor of Indianapolis has declared that 2017 is the 'Year of Vonnegut'. Author Kurt Vonnegut grew up in Indianapolis and is known for his novels Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle. 10 years since his death, the Vonnegut Museum will hold a grand re-opening on 8th April. Within the city, fans can also have a photo with a new two-story mural of Vonnegut on Mass Ave or eat at Bluebeard, named after one of his novels. There are several watering holes in the city where Vonnegut used to frequent, with Vonnegut architecture dotted around the city which can be seen on a self-guided trail. 11 of the city's top cocktail bars have developed Vonnegut-inspired cocktails, including Spoke and Steel's 'Not Kilgore's Drāno' (pictured) inspired by Vonnegut's novel, Breakfast of Champions, and the fate of character Kilgore Trout. www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk/destinations/indianapolis / www.visitindy.com/vonnegut-tour

North Carolina homes now available to UK visitors

Beach houses on the Outer Banks of North Carolina are now available through UK and Irish tour operators for the first time, placing holidaymakers steps away from the North Carolina sea shore. There is a plethora of activities and views along the coast including golf, kayaking, kiteboarding and a pirate-inspired Graveyard of the Atlantic Walking Tour, as well as seven coastal lighthouses dotting the shoreline to offer visitors incredible views. The Outer Banks Scenic Byway takes cyclists through charming island towns, including Rodanthe and Hatteras on its 111-mile stretch, whilst Currituck Outer Banks is a hot spot for watching wild horses roam, which are believed to have arrived with Spanish explorers 400 years ago. Beach house rentals vary from 1 to 15 bedrooms with packages now available from Bon Voyage and America As You Like It. www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk/north-carolina / www.uk.visitnc.com  

Daytona gears up as 500 speeds in to city

Following a multi-year $400 million expansion to transform Daytona International Speedway which was completed in 2016, Daytona Beach is set to host the 59th annual Dayton 500 on 26th February 2017, with NFL great LaDainian Tomlinson as the Honorary Starter. Visitors to the major sporting event will also be also among the first to experience One Daytona, a 300,000 square foot retail, dining and entertainment district, of which the first phase of the development is now open. This currently includes a 12-screen cinema with kitchen and bar and an outdoors-themed shopping destination. This summer, a 105-room Fairfield Inn & Suites By Marriott will open followed by a boutique hotel designed with motorsports in mind, The Daytona, in early 2018. www.VisitTheUSA.co.uk/state/florida / www.daytonabeach.com / www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com

-ENDS-

Discover this land, like never before VisitTheUSA.com

Brand USA, the destination marketing organisation for the United States, was established by the Travel Promotion Act as the nation's first public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. entry/exit policies and procedures to worldwide travellers. The organisation's mission is to increase international visitation to the USA in order to fuel the U.S. economy and enhance the image of the United States worldwide. Formed as the Corporation for Travel Promotion in 2010, the public-private entity began operations in May 2011 and does business as Brand USA.

According to studies by Oxford Economics, over the past three years Brand USA's marketing initiatives helped welcome more than 3 million incremental visitors to the USA, benefiting the U.S. economy with nearly $21 billion in total economic impact, which has supported, on average, 50,000 incremental jobs a year.

For industry or partner information about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA's consumer website VisitTheUSA.com.

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

Polly Beech / Sarah Barnett

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

020 7845 6359 / 020 7845 6378