Branding Goodwill

Introducing the world to your brand sometimes means inviting the world inside your store. A new initiative from the National Restaurant Association aims to make that process easier.

The quick-service industry has a chance to join the tourism and travel industries in improving this country’s image abroad, say industry and government officials. The opportunity is being presented by a coalition of companies as diverse as the National Restaurant Association, the Walt Disney Company, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Anheuser-Busch, and the Loews and Marriott hotel chains.

The private business sector’s efforts started with the World Travel & Tourism Council convention in Washington, D.C. in April 2005 and culminated with the formation of the Discover America Partnership in September 2006. The group’s mission is to attract 10 million more international visitors each year.

Attracting tourists to the United States became a critical issue after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Security measures imposed by the government after 9/11 prompted travel, tourism, and restaurant industry leaders to ask Congress to resolve visa and airport security measures that kept people from entering the United States.

A survey of foreign travelers commissioned by the Discover America Partnership revealed that travelers rate America’s entry process as “the world’s worst” by greater than a 2-to-1 margin over the next-worst destination. Two-thirds of travelers surveyed feared they would be detained at the border because of a simple mistake or misstatement, and 54 percent said immigration officials were “rude,” according to the survey of 2,011 non-U.S. resident international travelers.

“Travelers are more afraid of U.S. government officials than the threat of terrorism or crime,” says Geoff Freeman, executive director of the Discover America Partnership. “Whether it’s reality or not doesn’t matter,” he says. “We have a problem on our hands.”
But the survey also found positives: 72 percent of travelers said they had a “great” time once they got into the U.S. Sixty-three percent said they felt more favorable toward the United States as a result of their visit.

“That’s a prescription for change,” Freeman says. “If you want to win hearts and minds, one of the best things you can do is get people into America.”

Why Tourism Matters

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), a member of the House International Relations Committee, issued a statement noting that America’s image problem could undermine our economy. The issue is bigger than the oft-hyped war between Islam and the West, Delahunt says.

“The surplus from international tourism is used to offset the nation’s trade deficit,” he says. “America’s share of the growing worldwide travel market dropped by 36 percent between 1992 and 2005, costing the nation $42 billion in lost revenue last year alone.”

A separate report by the travel industry shows that America has fallen to sixth place as a dream destination. The survey also discovered that 77 percent of international travel agents said America was harder to visit than other countries. A glimmer of hope comes from overseas residents’ favorable view of Americans as people, as opposed to America as a country. In Germany, positive opinion of Americans was 29 percent higher than that of America as a country; in France, it was 28 percent higher; and in Japan, 19 percent, according to a Pew

Research report.

Yet the conclusion of most statistics is sobering: The United States is being bypassed in favor of Europe by business travelers. Business arrivals to the United States fell by 10 percent, to 7 million, over the 2004–2005 period, while the number of business visitors to Europe grew by 8 percent, to 84 million, during the same period. Commerce Department data shows that international travel to the United States fell from $103 billion in 2000 to $80 billion in 2003. It returned to $103 billion in 2005, but industry leaders remain concerned about future growth.
“America’s declining image has an enormous impact on the country’s economic and national security,” says Stevan Porter, president of InterContinental Hotels Group and chairman of the Discover America Partnership.

During a meeting with hospitality leaders in Chicago in November 2006, Gutierrez identified quick-serves as a critical component of the Discover America Partnership effort due to the segment’s pop-culture status and ubiquity.

Making a Difference

Shortly after Discover America’s launch, the U.S. Commerce Department served notice that it was seeking nominees for a renewed Travel and Tourism advisory board with a mandate to advise Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on “the development, creation, and implementation of a national tourism strategy.” Gutierrez, a former CEO of Kellogg, took an active role in shaping the advisory board’s report, which came out in September.

The 38-page report, titled Restoring America’s Travel Brand, noted that while security is important, this country’s visa and other entry procedures must be improved. The report called for a national marketing campaign to boost the United States as a tourist destination, and reviewing border-crossing issues on the Canadian and Mexican borders to make cross-border access easier.

During a meeting with hospitality leaders in Chicago in November 2006, Gutierrez identified quick-serves as a critical component of the Discover America Partnership effort due to the segment’s pop-culture status and ubiquity. He encouraged quick-serves to get involved with the movement—for their country and their bottom line. More tourists mean more sales. “That’s what it’s all about,” Gutierrez says.

Discover America Partnership has launched an ad campaign urging Americans to support international tourism to the country. The group is also pursuing strategies to help the United States better compete for international travelers, including examining the U.S. entry process and how the nation balances security and economic prosperity; tapping the travel industry’s expertise in hospitality to develop creative and better ways to welcome visitors to America; and studying how other countries compete for international travelers.

Branding Goodwill

Ana Guevara, deputy assistant secretary for services at the U.S. Commerce Department, says quick-serves can help by taking advantage of her department’s Commercial Service groups. The teams are charged with helping U.S. businesses promote their offerings abroad. Quick-serves with an international presence could even consider using a worldwide sweepstakes offer in appropriate markets with a visit to America as a prize, suggests Guevara.

Other avenues for expanding quick-services’ promotional capabilities include Visit USA committees overseas or cooperative marketing programs at state tourism offices or local convention and visitors bureaus.

Robert Ebbin, senior director of research projects for the National Restaurant Association, offered these tips on how quick-services can take advantage of travelers’ and tourists’ business:

• Highlight regional tastes and flavors by offering crab cakes in Boston or Southwestern chili in Houston.
• Get to know concierges and front-desk workers at local hotels so they will think of you when they give recommendations to travelers on where to eat.
• List your restaurant in tourism guides, both online and in print.
• Write opinion essays and send them to the local newspapers, boosting the idea of promoting local tourism.