Spotlight on France

Industry Newsletter

March 2019

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Greetings!

Spring for CRUSA is sales mission season. We’ve just returned from France and are heading to the UK, India, and China within the next six weeks. We’ll wrap it all up with many of you at IPW in Anaheim, June 1-5.

Our 2019 French mission included sales calls in both Lyon and Paris. Our team included representatives from Virginia Tourism Corporation, Visit Baltimore, Virginia Beach CVB, and Kimpton Hotels, in addition to our in-country reps, Olivier Barthez and Emmanuelle Blondin.

Over the course of 23 meetings, we met with product managers and sales staff, training them on selling the region and letting them know what’s new. While overall visitation from France was down in 2017, most French tour operators were optimistic about booking for this year, despite protests in France, interrupting weekend business in Paris over the past couple of months.

Below you’ll find a full report on our recent PR and marketing activities in France. Leads from the French sales mission will be available April 1st. We’re off to the UK next week and there’s still time to join us in China.

Thank you for your support of Capital Region USA!

Scott Balyo

Executive Director

Spotlight on France

The Latest Research

The most recent data shows that in 2017, 100,000 French residents visited the Capital Region. These travelers spent $114 million in direct spending while visiting the region. French visitors traveled regionally, visiting 2.8 states on average and staying an average of 15.3 nights.

Additional insights on the French market are available from the National Travel and Tourism Office and Brand USA.

Media Highlights

Since July 2018, PR efforts in France have produced three media fams and media coverage generating more than 472 million impressions and $1.2 million in ad value. Highlights include:

Sales Highlights

Since July, CRUSA's French representatives have conducted 61 sales calls, hosted one trade fam, and conducted 12 training presentations for 137 travel trade professionals. Highlights include:

CRUSA was invited to participate in a special event hosted by Aer Lingus at Toulouse Airport to promote the airline's US destinations. CRUSA's representatives gave a destination overview to 87 travel agents.
CRUSA gave a 90-minute training to eight sales managers with Salaun Holidays
In September, nine US sales specialists from five travel agencies were trained at CRUSA's Paris office.

Sales & Marketing Opportunities

Allied and Affiliate Memberships Available!

CRUSA's new Allied and Affiliate Memberships bundle our most popular programs and opportunities. The Allied Membership includes a seat on CRUSA's new advisory committee giving partners a chance to share input with CRUSA's board.

DMOs, hotels, attractions, or other tourism entities can take advantage of the full slate of CRUSA programming-Miles' print and digital advertising, sales and media missions, Brand USA opportunities, tour operator co-ops, reports and analytics, social media, PR, and the chance to give input on how we're doing and where we go next.

Limited spaces are available to join. Contact Scott Balyo to learn more or to become a member today!

Space is still available to join CRUSA’s final sales mission for 2019 and we’re headed to China, CRUSA’s largest overseas market!

Sell your destination or product directly to our most important tour operators and travel agents. Mission formats vary by market but typically include personal sales calls, private client events and training opportunities. All missions are organized and led by CRUSA's representatives in each market.

The China sales mission will take place April 13-20, 2019. Reserve your spot today!

Brand USA Travel Week

Registration is open for Brand USA Travel Week, set to take place in London September 9-13, 2019. The first-time exposition showcases the diverse range of US travel experiences. Brand USA Travel Week provides a game-changing business platform for US suppliers to engage with key buyers from the UK and Europe, who have a keen interest in leveraging opportunities to grow arrivals to the US. The event will focus on B2B appointments, a series of enrichment workshops and seminars, as well as networking opportunities and evening receptions. Learn more.

Allied Partners