Brand USA unveils UK & Ireland MegaFam 2018
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Brand USA, in partnership with American Airlines and British Airways, has announced Nashville as the finale city where the next Brand USA UK & Ireland MegaFam will culminate on 3 May next year.
The dates and finale destination were unveiled during World Travel Market.
With an agent capacity of 100, the MegaFam – a multi-destination familiarisation tour for travel agents from the UK and Ireland – takes place from 26 April to 4 May 2018 and, to celebrate its sixth consecutive year, will showcase the diversity of American culture through the lens of music.
With more than 160 live music venues, a thriving culinary scene and a new flight route being launched by British Airways next year, Nashville is a truly vibrant MegaFam finale destination for all tastes and styles.
As seven groups travel on brand new itineraries, each trip will explore some of America’s most musically rich destinations.
Agents will be immersed in the landscapes and soundscapes of the USA, meeting visionaries, artists, music makers and innovators who are shaping the country’s culture today.
The seven routes will be undertaken simultaneously and will provide agents with a fresh perspective on the USA before all groups fly into the city of Nashville for a finale event. Here, the agents will share their variety of experiences with the goal of educating other agents and enabling them to better sell the destinations upon return.
At a meeting with Travel Daily Media at WTM, Anne Madison, chief strategy & communications officer at Brand USA said: “The reason these MegaFams are so great is that it simultaneously showcases various destinations working together rather than in completion with each other. It’s a win, win, win situation.”
During their time in Music City, agents will also have the unique opportunity to attend a screening of America’s Musical Journey, Brand USA’s upcoming giant-screen film celebrating the cultural and musical treasures of the United States.
The new film, expected to have a world premiere in February 2018, follows singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc as he explores some of America’s iconic cultural cities and traces jazz legend Louis Armstrong’s footsteps through the colourful locales where America’s music was born.
Madison continued: “It celebrates music from the United States as a huge cultural programme. International travellers often know about the US through films and by using this platform, they can learn more about different places through music.”
Agents will be able to win a place on the UK & Ireland MegaFam 2018 by booking American Airlines and British Airways flights to the United States during the entry period starting from 1 December 2017 until 23 March 2018.
To qualify, agents must also earn a number of USA specialist badges on the official agent training site, USADiscoveryProgram.co.uk. Itineraries and exact details of how agents can qualify to win a place on the MegaFam will be released later this month.
From May 2018, British Airways will launch a five-a-week service to Nashville from Heathrow, Terminal 5 and will be the only airline flying direct between the UK and the capital of Tennessee.
The new route takes the number of U.S. destinations the airline flies to from London in summer 2018 up to 26, and the number of daily flights offered by British Airways and American Airlines as part of their transatlantic joint business up to 67 per day.
British Airways has launched more than 30 new routes across the globe this year including direct flights to New Orleans (Louisiana), Oakland (California) and Fort Lauderdale (Florida).
To become a qualified USA Specialist and learn more about the Brand USA UK & Ireland MegaFam, agents in the UK and Ireland should visit USADiscoveryProgram.co.uk.
