Creative Execution

In the biggest investment by US tourism in the digital sphere, Mailman Group worked with Discover America to design an interactive and mobile friendly website that allows users to plan and share trips, browse activities and win awards. The website was also linked to Chinese social media to make it even more shareable.

The website has been immensely popular, with over 28,000 registered users, averaging 2500 new registrants a month and averaging 1 million visitors to the site monthly. Tourism to the US from China has jumped, from 1.5 million in 2012 to almost 2 million in 2013.

WIth an expected over 100 million tourists spending over 1 billion abroad this year, China is the largest growing tourism market. China's Internet population, at over 618 million, is the largest in the world, and users show different online behavior and levels of engagement compared to the west. It's important to have an official presence online in China to guide brand image and communicate directly to consumers. Discover America, a public-private marketing entity, works in close partnership with the travel industry to encourage travelers to visit the US. As one of the top destinations abroad for Chinese tourists, Discover America wanted to leverage their popularity, but because of the strict censorship and ban on many major western websites and social media platforms, Discover America had to be more creative to reach Chinese netizens to promote US tourism. Thus, the idea for an official and engaging China website was born.