Over 60 members of the US travel industry attended Visit USA’s annual Thanksgiving breakfast at the Sydney Botanic Gardens Restaurant on Thursday, 22 November 2018 with pancakes, bacon and pumpkin pie.
On arrival, guests were treated to a mini train ride through the gardens to the restaurant, co-sponsored by The Great American West, which also presented during the event. Additional key partners at the breakfast included Virgin Australia and Delta Air Lines, as well as Brand USA.
Travel industry guests were thanked by key speakers, Lucy Rowe, President of Visit USA and Monique Roos, Senior Commercial Service Specialist from the US Consulate, for their continued support in selling the USA to Australian travellers.
“People travel far and wide to celebrate Thanksgiving and it isn’t always with family, it can be celebrated with friends and industry colleagues such as the guests who attended our event today,” said Rowe.
“Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national day in 1789 by George Washington, and today the celebration continues on, evolving around companionship, thankfulness and cuisine. Visit USA holds this annual event as our way of giving back and giving thanks to the travel industry who support visitation to the USA.”
Industry members attending enjoyed fun prize giveaways with Polly Simons of Colorado Tourism Office claiming a large frozen turkey, and Grant Robertson of Hertz celebrating with the major prize of two return Virgin Australia/Delta Economy class airfares from Sydney to the USA presented by Rob Hamer-Jones, State Sales Manager for Virgin Australia and Tiffany Rowe, Marketing Manager for Delta Air Lines.
The next major event series on the calendar for Visit USA will be the annual retail travel agent USA Expos, in February 2019. Registration is scheduled to open in December 2018 at www.visitusa.org.au.
Lead image: Karen Prideaux, Visit USA Events Manager; Clinton White, Visit USA Secretariat; Helen Hayes Guest & President of ASTW; Lucy Rowe, Visit USA President; David Clark, Visit USA Treasurer; Sarah Stevenson, Visit USA Secretary; Monique Roos, Senior Commercial Service Specialist US Consulate; Rachael Oakes Ash, Guest & Editor of SnowBest.com; Caroline Davidson, Visit USA Vice President and Lizzie Doyle, Visit USA PR Manager.