Brand USA partners with Airbnb for virtual tourism

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

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Brand USA and Airbnb have announced a new partnership designed to allow guests to explore the USA from the comfort of home through Online Experiences featuring the unique cultures, cuisines, and people from across the United States. Along with a new landing page highlighting a special collection of Airbnb Online Experiences that showcase the unique possibilities of the United States, Brand USA also introduces five Online Experiences. These Online Experiences hosted by storytellers from United Stories—a Brand USA campaign launched in early 2019 as an open invitation for travelers to visit the USA, experience the warmth of the American people, and engage with the vast diversity of U.S. destinations—range from culinary traditions of the South to the art of spoken word poetry.

“Airbnb Online Experiences gives us a new platform to share warm and welcoming stories about U.S. destinations. As the world longs to travel again, we are delighted to help travelers understand places more deeply, meet real people, and uncover local perspectives to activate their wanderlust,” says Tom Garzilli, chief marketing officer, Brand USA. “It’s a fun and safe way to showcase what makes this country unique, and invite international travelers to virtually experience our people and destinations first-hand.”

Created at the start of the pandemic as a way to allow people to connect, travel virtually and earn income from home, Airbnb Online Experiences are unique, handcrafted activities that immerse guests into each host’s unique world. Hosts include small business owners, entrepreneurs, and creatives who want to connect with travelers and introduce them to their community.

“As those of us in travel and tourism look to support the nation’s economic recovery, we are as proud as we are privileged to be partnering with Brand USA to make it possible for people all over the world to virtually visit the United States via Airbnb’s Online Experiences. These Online Experiences will help virtual visitors experience the incredible natural beauty of our lands, the cultural mosaic that makes America so special and, our greatest natural resource of all, our people. Over the years, millions of people across the globe have visited the U.S. and connected with our country by being welcomed into the homes of our incredible community of Home hosts. In this moment we are in, where there are challenges to cross-border travel, this initiative will allow Airbnb hosts to open their virtual doors for people to experience the U.S. Our hope is that these Online Experiences will facilitate deeper connections between hosts and guests and encourage a future in real life trip,” said Chris Lehane, senior vice president for global public policy and communications at Airbnb.

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