New Delhi: Today, Brand USA concluded its third annual India Travel Mission organized from September 8-13, 2014. The mission, traveling across three Indian metro cities, witnessed a tremendous response with over 600 Indian travel industry professionals attending buyer seller meetings in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi. The U.S. delegations comprised of forty-one participants representing thirty U.S. companies including destinations, attractions, hotels and receptive operators. The India Travel Mission extended its reach this year by including Bengaluru (September 8) in the program, and returned to the major metros cities of Mumbai (September 9) and New Delhi (September 12).

The mission provided a platform for U.S. suppliers to interact with India’s travel buyers with the goal of increasing destination and product knowledge, business cooperation and travel bookings. The invitees included major stakeholders from the Indian travel trade, airline representatives, hospitality representatives and tour operators. Additionally, a dedicated media day was organised in New Delhi with leading travel trade and consumer media.

During the mission, Brand USA announced the launch of their training program, the “USA Discovery Program” for the Indian travel trade. The “USA Discovery Program” is an online learning tool created to train and empower Indian travel agents to sell USA like never before.  Hosted at www.usadiscoveryprogram.in, agents can find information on U.S. states, regions and territories, as well as experiences and holiday themes to provide a holistic overview of the USA as a destination and to enable cross-selling on all aspects of sales to the USA.

Brand USA also unveiled its culinary guide, “Discover America: Great American Food Stories” aimed at promoting gastro-tourism in the USA and showcasing the U.S. as a top culinary destination for world travelers. It brings together some of the best-known American chefs and showcases the culinary highlights of each region of the country.

Mr. Jay Gray, Vice President, Global Partnership Development at Brand USA said, “Like earlier years, the India Travel Mission has been a great success and has been enthusiastically received by the Indian travel trade. New initiatives like the USA Discovery Program will engage the travel trade to learn the diverse travel options in the US. Additionally the recently published Culinary Guide with encourage gourmet enthusiasts to discover cuisines of the USA like never before.”

Ms. Sheema Vohra, Managing Director of Sartha Global, marketing representative office for Brand USA in India added, “The U.S. has witnessed a continuous increase in Indian travelers arrivals in the last three years. We are confident that this trend will continue over the next decade and the India Travel Mission provides an excellent opportunity for Indian travel partners to cultivate lucrative business opportunities to the USA.”

The USA has witnessed a steady increase in Indian travelers. In 2013, India is ranked 11th amongst the top 20 tourist generating countries for the U.S. with 859,000 arrivals, an increase of 18.6% over the previous year according to the U.S Department of Commerce. In 2013, Indian visitors also ranked 10th globally in terms of money spent in the U.S., with a total spend of $5.6 billion – an increase of 14% over the previous year.

Brand USA led a team of representatives from 7M Tours, Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau, Caesars Entertainment, Cirque du Soleil, Hornblower Cruises & Events, Las Vegas Convention And Visitors Authority, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, Maxim Tours LLC, Nevada Commission on Tourism, NYC & Co., Empire State Building Observatory, Broadway Inbound, Papillon Group, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, Red and White Fleet – San Francisco Cruises, San Francisco Travel Association, Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau, Sans Incredible Vacations, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Simon Shopping Destinations, Starwood Hotels,  Tours Limited LLC, Universal Studios Hollywood, Visit California, VISIT FLORIDA, Visit Orlando and Visit Tampa Bay.