Hit the road: US rolls out new travel campaign

The United States’ destination marketing organization is rolling out a new campaign to bolster travel demand in key markets,.

Brand USA’s global campaign America the Beautiful launched this week in London at Brand USA Travel Week, aimed at connecting US destinations with international buyers and media after reduced visitor numbers in the first half of the year.

The campaign, first unveiled in June, followed cuts to Brand USA’s federal funding at a time when political rhetoric and restrictive policies have curbed international tourism to the US, travel news hub Skift reported.

The campaign will roll out on connected TV, streaming, out-of-home, digital, and social media platforms across nine major markets: the UK, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.

It is timed to promote growth ahead of 2026, a year marked by the FIFA World Cup, America’s 250th anniversary, and the Route 66 centennial.

"The United States remains the top international destination for long-haul leisure travel in the world, reflecting the enduring appeal of our varied and unique destinations and experiences," said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of Brand USA.

“With America the Beautiful, we're delivering a fresh invitation to explore the USA in new and exciting ways. 

"As we look ahead to 2026 and the decade of mega events on the horizon, we remain laser-focused on maximizing international tourism opportunities to drive economic impact and job growth while inviting the world to celebrate 250 years of America the Beautiful.”

The message sounds a little Trumpian.

"America the Beautiful tells the story of America bigger, bolder, and more beautifully than ever before -balancing the power of place with the depth of human connection,” said Leah Chandler, chief marketing officer of Brand USA.

“Every element, from powerful creative storytelling to AI-powered planning tools, is designed to inspire travellers to see America in new ways and to turn that inspiration into action.

"We're not asking people to simply visit America; we're inviting them to feel it, taste it, and carry home experiences that become core memories.”

Brand USA Travel Week India (January 18-23, 2026) and Brand USA Travel Week South America (March 16-20, 2026) will be key events in markets with strong potential for inbound travel growth.

To learn more about Brand USA, visit TheBrandUSA.com.

US reporter can’t tell the difference between Tasmania and Tanzania

Is a reporter at vaunted People Magazine easily confused? 

It would appear so.

Poor Esme Mazzeo is unable to tell the difference between snowy Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and the African country of Tanzania. 

https://people.com/bindi-irwin-shares-photos-family-trip-tanzania-8667811

Esme lifted some of Bindi Irwin’s social media images of herself and her family in Tasmania under the headline: “Bindi Irwin Shares Photos of Her Family's Adventures in Tanzania: ‘So Grateful for These Moments’” 

It gets worse: “On Saturday, June 22, the Australian TV personality, 25, shared a carousel of photos on Instagram from a family vacation in the East African country, tagging the resort where they stayed, Cradle Mountain Lodge, in the last photo.”

Poor Esme is clearly not strong when it comes to research.

Look, we all make mistakes, but I wonder how she goes when it comes to Australia and Austria? 

 

Would you like to a taste one of Rupert Murdoch's wines?

Rupert Murdoch is best-known for publishing newspapers that consistently deny climate change and actively promote right-wing politicians.

But he also wants to be known for making world-class wines in an unlikely location.

Australian-born US media mogul Murdoch hosted his fifth wedding at his California vineyard earlier this month.

The Moraga estate in Bel Air, the only vineyard located in the city of Los Angeles, is a venue Murdoch believes can produce "world-class" wines, the drinks business reported.

I once worked for Rupert, and had a 30-second interaction with him when he looked over my shoulder as I was typing in the Daily Telegraph newsroom in Sydney. 

He stood there for a minute or two, said "carry on" and then proceeded on to more important matters of trying to ensure some lunatic was elected somewhere around the world.

Moraga Vineyards is around 300 metres in elevation in the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Angeles community of Bel Air.

It is where Murdoch, now 93, married biologist Elena Zhukova last weekend.

Murdoch purchased Moraga in 2013 for US $22.3 million, and the estate includes 14 acres of vineyards on top of the Benedict Canyon fault. It also houses a high-tech on-site winery.  

Although challenged by the severe weather conditions often found in LA, including wild fires in 2017, Murdoch wants the vineyard to be “a big part of his legacy”, that organ of accuracy The Daily Mail reported.

Moraga was originally a horse ranch, owned by the director of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming. But in 1980, its then-owner Tom Jones, the CEO of defence and aerospace technology firm Northrop Grumman, decided to plant vines.

The Moraga website quotes Murdoch as saying: "Moraga is 'not Napa or Bordeaux' but that it deserves “ a place at the table with the rest of the world’s top wines”.

As part of the drive to make people more aware of the vineyard, it occasionally offers tastings at $US 150 per head. Moraga currently makes around 500 cases of a red wine blend, which retails at US$ 140 and a Sauvignon Blanc at $US $92. 

Rupert has not yet sent a bottle for review.

For details of the project see https://www.moragabelair.com/

No monkey business: Nagano sets its sights on Australian tourists

Nagano is probably not the first region that comes to mind for Australians visiting Japan.

But the Nagano Tourism Oganization plans to change that by appointing its first Australian representative to boost awareness. 

And not just any representative but industry veteran Helen Wong, a legendary figure in the travel business over five decades. 

It is significant move by the regional tourism body that aims to position Nagano - known as the Rooftop of Japan - in the forefront of Australian travellers’ thoughts and plans through strategic marketing and public relations.

The first assignment will take place on Tuesday, February 27 with a 30-minute themed webinar on the  prefecture, which hosted the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 1998. 

See https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPgBtF4GSrwa-GHiJlJYYbTgVXGvyXoUs9wFtD3nMbxX10sw/viewform?fbclid=IwAR0n_xHnwevwwsiIsLsnyB8tZXBoH5DI5dfs83dn4Rj8quZlQWUGzx7EvZ4 

Nagano is 225km north-west of Tokyo and one of the major attractions in the alpine region is the Jigokudani Monkey Park (top), where the Japanese macaques, commonly known as snow monkeys, bathe in the hot springs. 

Tokyo and Nagano are connected by the Hokoriku Shinkansen (bullet train) - which takes 80-minutes. 

“It’s an honour to be representing this breath-taking, naturally gifted corner of Japan,” said Wong (right).

“Nagano has so much to offer with a great number of Australians already familiar with the ski fields, national parks, hot springs and, of course, the Jigokudani Monkey Park,” she said.

“There’s a lot more to the region, however, which needs to be highlighted in attracting newcomers and further building on the already impressive figures.”

Wong has 45 years’ of experience in global tourism having represented the Macao Government Tourism Office and the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Commission. She also has her own events and travel business.

See go-nagano.net

Why you can safely ignore so many "experts"

Everyone is an expert nowadays.

TV and radio are awash with them. The internet is home to millions of them. And the newspapers are flooded with them.

You only need to have a minimal amount of knowledge about one subject - less even than contestants on TV program Hard Quiz - to proclaim yourself an expert, or be hailed as one.

The other day one of the newspaper travel sections had a selection of holiday choices from "experts". Nearly every single one was singing the praises of a destination that they sell.

The other night, veteran journalist Liz Hayes was surrounded by "experts" on her prime time TV show Under Investigation. 

The experts debated a decades old murder mystery for an hour - and revealed not one piece of new evidence or intelligence.

All we got was their "expert" thoughts on a crime they clearly knew very little about, but were very keen to waffle about.

Then there is a TV show MAFS - for which I have only seen adverts and snippets before changing the channel. 

But I've seen enough to know that their "expertise" seems to extend to pairing up wildly mismatched couples in a bid to create sensationalist headlines and publicity.

So many experts are just seeking publicity either to feed their own egos, or because they want to sell you something.

In today's Body & Soul supplement in News Ltd papers, three of the experts chosen to talk about "the morning hacks of productive people" were a bloke who has had well publicised mental issues; a woman who most recently hit the headlines after being accused of an affair with with her ex partner, a retired cricketer, and another woman who sells sex aids and potions but does not know the difference between the prostate and being prostrate.

Their "expert" advice was unintentionally hilarious.

The first woman's tips on having a good morning were "spending a moment to ground my thoughts, refer to my crystals, oracle cards and readings from the book The Daily Stoic".

Deep stuff.

The TV type who has "spent many years battling anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation" has good morning hints including "not carrying any irrational energy'. He exposes himself to daylight and has a double espresso to get his "prefrontal cortex firing.".

Good stuff.

But the best tips come from the sex business saleswoman who assures us that we "must make time for a little morning masturbation".

Of course. 

She insists that we should "start your day with an orgasm (solo or with a partner) to get those feel good chemicals flowing".

That's pretty darn expert. And, of course, the story kindly provides the name of her no doubt lucrative online business.

Qantas scrambles to defend its reputation

Qantas has always been an airline whose name is synonymous with safety and good service.

That image has taken a hit this month with six unrelated issues involving its aircraft (five of which involved flights turned back) that generated a whole lot of unwanted media attention and public criticism.

The publicity could have been a whole lot worse were it not for Qantas's cosy relationship with the Australian media - and its status as a big paying advertiser.

After a long feature article on Qantas' woes on major financial news website Bloomberg.com, the airline is scrambling to defend its reputation.

And, to be fair, all of the flights that were turned back landed safely. And all the issues were unrelated.

Australia’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said in a statement it was “confident Qantas is operating safely and has confidence in its safety management systems.”

“Australia has one of the safest aviation industries in the world and travellers should have confidence when they fly,” CASA said.

Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David said there are no issues at the airline.

“Our pilots are trained always to err on the side of caution,” he said. “I’d be more worried about the airlines that don’t turn back than the airlines that do in those situations.

"When we look at our overall fleet health condition, we are very, very, very satisfied our fleet are in good, healthy condition.”

That said, chief executive Alan Joyce - who previously oversaw repeated episodes of cancelled flights and lost luggage - must be hoping that there are no more issues.

When a little research might have been a good idea

The first thing you are taught in journalism is to do your research.

Check names, ages and facts.

So it would seem strange, then that a new US-based luxury consumer travel magazine about to launch would choose the name of a magazine that already exists.

Even more peculiar when that magazine publishes in another language and is aimed at the funeral industry. 

OLTRE is to be published by the Global Travel Collection, which bills itself as "the world's largest collection of luxury travel advisors".

ÓLTRE is an Italian word meaning “beyond,” “over,” or “above.” Sometimes "something beyond".

The new magazine plans to publish quarterly, and to be "collectible".

But that might depend on what the good people at the other - long-established - Oltre in Italy have to say.

They are not hard to find. Just go to https://oltremagazine.com.

Oh. And there is also an online Oltre magazine, based in the Netherlands, that sells fashion items. You'll find them here: www.oltre.com/en_NL/oltre-magazine  

No possible confusion, then, when people go looking for OLTRE online.

Just who are you dealing with?

Hospitality industry businesses are among the major culprits when it comes to overblown job titles. 

It often turns out that the executive vice-president for communications is a 20-year-old dogsbody and the chief of sanitation is the toilet cleaner. 

The COO is sometimes the No.2 in a two-person business. 

And the chief people and culture officer probably handles HR when not answering the phone.

But now there is a kickback against absurdity. 

US digital payments company Block is the latest firm to bid adieu to formal job titles, as CEO Jack Dorsey adopts the role of 'Block Head'. 

Businesses are now asking whether creative titles a playful way to encourage outside-the-box thinking, or just plain ridiculous?

In the Block Head’s case it is a semantic change only and there will be no changes to Dorsey's roles and responsibilities. 

His title change resembles a Tesla filing last year in which CEO Elon Musk added Technoking of Tesla to his official role at the electric car maker.

In the media industry, every second person is an editor, section editor, sub-editor or editor in chief. 

In hotels there are countless managers. Night manager, food and beverage manager, housekeeping manager, assistant manager…

It is time to end the nonsense and just acknowledge that some folk are workers. And always will be? 

I'm a nonentity: put me on the front page

Australia's mainstream media has an obsession with nonentities.

If you once had a bit part in Neighbours, played a couple of seasons for an under-achieving AFL team before developing a drug habit, or were a total bitch on a TV "reality" dating show then your luck is in. 

Your views. no matter tragic or idiotic, will be assiduously sought after, and reported on in depth by both the Murdoch tabloids and that bizarre selection of "TV" magazines that dot every supermarket's shelves.

The latest example concerns former Australian Idol host James Mathison, who criticised Channel 9 and tennis star Ash Barty, after she celebrated her Australian Open win with a beer on live television. 

Nothing could be more Australian. And Barty had, in fact, sworn off alcohol throughout the tournament.  

But Mathison, clearly suffering from attention deficit, called Barty's celebratory beverage a “glamourisation of alcohol”.

It was later revealed that years after his TV star flickered briefly, Mathison now works at an Amazon distribution warehouse "after stepping away from the spotlight".

Mathison should probably stay away from pubs for a while after saying: “Our glorification and glamorisation of alcohol in this country is normalised to the point where we can’t even celebrate success without booze on live TV. It’s bizarre.

“Imagine if this was in Canada and the broadcaster hoisted a joint onto their new champion?”

Mathison's thoughts and the responses of the likes of low-rating TV talking head Rita Panahi were splashed all over the Herald-Sun tabloid in Melbourne. A newspaper that reports breathlessly if an AFL player is bitten on the ankle by a mosquito. 

And the TV networks are no better. 

How many of the contestants on the recent I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here were really celebrities? Several were so obscure they would not be recognised by members of their own families.

Time for the media to lift its game. 

# The writer glamourises alcohol by having a glass of wine most days. 

# Image Ebuka Mordi, Scop.io