Discover America, a Vacation and Trip Planner for Travelers to the United States, Launches in Canada

WASHINGTON, DC – July 16, 2008 - A comprehensive online source of United States travel information, designed specifically for international travelers, is now available. DiscoverAmerica.com, the first-ever official United States travel and tourism website is the result of a public-private partnership between TIA and the United States Department of Commerce.

The 15,000-page website is filled with rich content on the 50 U.S. states, popular cities and the country's five territories, plus vibrant traveler galleries picturing American tourist attractions, official entry and Visa information, interactive mapping tools, an activity finder, travel booking options and other unique features to help users plan vacations and trips to America. User-generated reviews and images are included as well, designed to provide a blend of official and authentic travel guides and information about the United States.

The website will be available in five languages that correspond to the nation's top five inbound travel markets: Canada (both English and French), Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. These markets account for roughly 75 percent of all inbound travel to the United States.

Content is supplied by the United States Department of State, state tourism offices, destination marketing organizations, Fodor's, American Express, Weather.com, Google Maps and others.

With its wealth of information on American destinations, DiscoverAmerica.com will help inbound travelers research and plan U.S. travel experiences such as city breaks to New York, Boston or Chicago. Information on major cities and places to travel in America such as theme parks, beach vacations in Hawaii, South Carolina or Puerto Rico, and guest ranches in Arizona and Texas are just examples of the information available for planners.

DiscoverAmerica.com's Unique User Functions
• Interactive U.S. Map: This feature allows visitors to explore the United States by region, state, city or activity. Another trip planning feature allows visitors to map distances between destinations (in kilometers and miles). While browsing, users are led inside DiscoverAmerica.com pages by selecting a destination they have viewed on the map.
•Activity Finder: This feature allows visitors to research U.S. travel by preference of activity rather than location. Users can select from 23 popular activity categories, such as shopping, theme parks, beaches and coasts, and national parks. The site will display recommended vacation destinations that correspond to the user's search parameters.
• Traveler Stories: A community feature on DiscoverAmerica.com will allow users to share self-generated content in native languages, such as reviews, recommendations and images. The intent of Traveler Stories is to provide a place for site users to communicate with one another in an informal and unedited format.
• Booking Options: DiscoverAmerica.com enables customers to research and book their travel the way that they choose. The site offers booking capabilities through a directory of travel agents/specialists and tour operators, as well as hotel bookings through Travelocity, the website's official online travel provider.

DiscoverAmerica.com will evolve as an American tourism and trip planning resource following its spring 2008 launch. The Travel Industry Association is identifying the site's next phases of development to assist travelers in markets with high inbound traffic patterns to the United States (such as France, South Korea, Australia, Brazil and Italy), and emerging markets such as China and India.