The World Cup may be over, but there's still a whole lot more going on in the US to get excited about this year – and beyond.

Brand USA chief Fred Dixon is in good spirits as we chat gazing out over London's skyline on another unseasonably warm early summer's day. It's Diet Cokes all round.

He's on a high following the US's 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, marred only by the – now – controversial red card for star striker Folarin Balogun, which prompted Donald Trump to call up Fifa to have a moan.

But with everything that threatened to overshadow the tournament just a month or so ago, or so national and international headlines would have you believe, Dixon is delighted with how things have gone.

"It's been remarkable for the US, our communities and our people," he beams. "It's the very best of us and everyone else. The Tartan Army in Boston was a prime example. They helped set the tone. You can't buy that kind of advertising.

"I think with the experiences people are having, especially first time travellers to the US who perhaps saw some of those headlines before they came and were just coming for the soccer, they are leaving with a new-found love of America and its people. That's what travel does.

"We'll be spring-boarding off this for the remainder of the year."

World Cup 'helping set the agenda'

And what a year it promises to be; days after we chat comes 4 July, this year marking the 250th anniversary of US independence. The centenary of Route 66 will follow in November, and then the 200th anniversary of US rail travel in 2027.

The World Cup, meanwhile, kicks off what Dixon, who took over as President and Chief Executive of Brand USA two years ago, characterises as the US's "decade of sport". The campaign, launched in the aftermath of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, includes the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Utah.

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"We have two rugby world cups in there as well," Dixon says. "Sport continues to be a major driver for travel, along with live events, music and entertainment.

"The World Cup showed how, on the world stage, the US is almost unmatched. Not just in terms of beds, but also facilities and stadiums. We didn't have to build anything. It has really helped set the agenda. We're seeing tournaments of every size and scale for every sport coming to the US.

"They're really resilient travel sectors too, and bring lots of first-time travellers as well. We're really leaning into it hard."

Misinformation and disinformation

I'm meeting with Dixon mid-way through a whistle-stop tour of Europe, which will see him miss the 4 July celebrations back home.

Brand USA has just launched its Get Facts. Get Going. toolkit to help agents inspire confidence among would-be US visitors, and it is also preparing to start introducing the first of its 250 global travel trade ambassadors.

Get Facts. Get Going. aims to dispel myths about US visa requirements, entry procedures, fees, and the arrival experience. It's embedded in GDS searches through a partnership with Amadeus so the content is surfaced when agents are looking at flights. It's also curated by market.

I ask if the age of misinformation – and increasingly, disinformation – in which we live is making it harder for authorities like Brand USA to do their jobs.

"There was a gap between conversions and searches," he explains. "Our research showed that the headlines, misinformation and myths out there, about entry policies and visas in particular, was creating some dissonance."

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He continues: "We felt we needed to set the record straight. We went to government and they were very appreciative and supportive of this effort to create one central point of information. In fact, we had to get them to go with us to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok to say we are an official source of travel information."

One worry for agents has been suggestions theirs and their clients' social media histories could be checked as part of the Esta application process. Dixon confirms there have been discussions about this, but stresses nothing has yet been implemented. Similarly, the much talked-of $250 "visa integrity fee" won't apply to those eligible for an Esta, like UK and Irish visitors. "It's all about making sure the trade is informed," he adds.

"We knew it [the campaign] was novel and had never been done, so we felt a bit like – 'is this a good idea? Is this something we need to do?' But the research showed we needed to address it head on and build it into our branding and messaging. It was probably needed sooner, honestly."

It's all being implemented into Brand USA's online education platforms for agents too, and served up to them directly through paid advertising.

Cost 'a major factor' for inbound demand

Estas have been a challenge for agents over the past year and in the lead up to the World Cup with clients experiencing last-minute status changes. Last September, several agents told TTG of an increase in cases where previously approved Estas were being revoked without notice or reason.

Dixon acknowledges a specific outage days prior to our meeting, but vows to share the information with the powers that be. "We know on 23 June there was a software malfunction," he says. "People were having issues boarding because all of a sudden their Esta was showing as invalid. I'd heard some rumblings about other earlier issues so I'd be happy to take back specifics."

Resort fees are another agent bugbear, potentially adding $2, $5, $10, $20 – even up to $50 – per night to some US bookings. Vegas is known for them, but agents report them cropping up across the country, from San Francisco and Miami.

"It's private sector-driven," Dixon says. "With revenue strategies, there are a number of levers pulled at various stages. Cost continues to be a major factor when it comes to driving inbound, and it is something we raise constantly. It's always in our research, and we share that with the private sector. It's an open dialogue."

Dixon highlights how some destinations, like New York, have taken steps to rein them in, or at least ensure they are disclosed upfront, similar to the action the UK Competition and Markets Authority is taking this side of the Atlantic. There has been conversations in Washington at federal level too, Dixon reveals.

"It's a complicated policy issue, but there is increasing awareness of rising costs, because it impacts Americans travelling at home too," Dixon continues. "It comes back to the question of cost as a factor in driving travel."

Value to be found in longer stays

I ask if America has become too expensive? "We're seeing travellers shift to destinations where the value perception is higher," Dixon tells me.

"The American south has definitely benefited from that. Coming into the World Cup and the summer, I think there was a bit of shock. Now the value has really risen in terms of what is available and how things are priced on the market.

"It's cyclical. Around big events, you sometimes see the private sector over forecast in some situations. I think that is what is being moderated right now."

'America's finest road trip is back – and it's even better than ever'

Costs are a factor; fuel and inflation, Dixon says, has put pressure on both the supply and the demand side. "To your question, it's top of mind for us, talking about value. Cost is consistently rated as one of the main reasons people are hesitant about travelling to the US. We know we're not inexpensive, broadly.

"But the market is incredibly resilient. I was amazed meeting with some of our trade partners [in the UK and Europe] to hear lengths of stay have actually started to inch up, even with inflation. I think greater value comes in those extended stays."

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Road trips are a beneficiary of this. "You're adding a variety of destinations at a variety of price points," says Dixon. "You're going to see road trips as a big thematic for us."

He highlights those experiences World Cup fans have had following their teams around the US. "They're watching their team play, then waiting to see where they're going next. They've got days to fill in between too – we're seeing a tremendous amount of spontaneous road trip activity in the US."

And with the centenary of Route 66 on the horizon, Dixon believes road trips will resonate with travellers as much – if not more – than they ever have, especially amid a seemingly insatiable clamour for experiential travel. "You're going to see us continue to build out content and promotion around that," he adds.

Spotlighting off-season travel

Seasonality is another consideration. "Are we really benefiting our partners in the industry if we're driving more travel during peak periods?" Dixon posits.

He brings up the US's national parks as an example, where fees are being introduced to deter high levels of visitation. He acknowledges it's a blunt instrument.

"From our perspective, in terms of inspiration and trip planning it's about spotlighting the off-season, for value in terms of both price and experience. With smaller crowds, it's a better overall environment and experience. And that's a good thing for our international marketing image."

I ask him to help me get my head around seasonality from a US perspective, it being 40 times bigger than the UK spread across a handful of timezones.

"It varies by state," he says, with a smile. "National parks are an easy example. Yosemite and Yellowstone, they're chockablock at weekends in the summer.

"So we see educating the trade on seasonality as being part of our mission. It could be that instead of planning a stay in one of the big parks over a weekend, they plan it for Tuesday through Thursday.

"Two summers ago, I went to Yosemite for the first time – Tuesday through Thursday. There were no lines, the trails weren't crowded. It was stunning. Go mid-week, even in peak summer, you'll have a wonderful time."

He adds: "It's not about ramming travellers through. If we can give these tips and advice to the trade to pass on to clients and consumers, we're doing better by the customer, by our product and by our community."

Funding crisis no threat to Brand USA's future

Dixon has more than 30 years' travel and tourism industry experience. He joined Brand USA from NYC Tourism + Conventions, New York City's destination marketing organisation, which he headed up for 10 years.

It's experience he's had to lean on heavily during his first two years in post, which has seen Donald Trump return to the White House and Brand USA lose 80% of its matched funding, both bringing their own distinct challenges.

"We don't have any direct government appropriated funds," he explains. "In a normal year, we raise $100 million from the private sector, which gets matched from the Esta fund that sits with the US Treasury."

However, that matched funding got capped at $20 million in last year's budget reconciliation, otherwise known as Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill".

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The US Travel Association, which manages policy work relating to Brand USA, is leading lobbying efforts to have this funding restored via a new Visit USA act, which has been introduced into the US Congress and now has the support, Dixon says, of around 30 co-sponsors.

Progress, though, is slow. "It needs to be attached to a piece of moving legislation, so we're hopeful that's going to happen," says Dixon.

He's nonetheless buoyed by the support the act has received "on the hill" – in Congress. He also stresses international inbound tourism is a bicameral and bipartisan issue, in so much as support comes from both sides of the political divide.

"Part of what I've done since joining the organisation is raise the floor on the hill in terms of awareness of Brand USA and the importance of international inbound tourism," Dixon says. "We've actually taken our new campaign directly into Congress to showcase to them what we're doing state-by-state and what the impact is."

Amid all of this, Brand USA is up for reauthorisation next year. So is Dixon worried? "Brand USA has been reauthorised three times in its history without an issue. I don't expect there to be issues next year."

'We've not turned down investment here'

Such a dramatic funding cut is not without consequences, but Dixon plays down any impact on the UK, which is still firmly the US's largest overseas market at around four million annual visitors – two million more than its next largest market. The US received nearly 500,000 visitors from Ireland last year too.

"We have not turned down the level of investment here," he says, categorically. "In fact, the UK and Ireland is the only market in Europe getting the full complement of our programming. That's the full weight of the consumer campaign, and the full weight of all of our trade engagement and training programmes."

The UK and Ireland will also have the largest complement of global travel trade ambassadors – 23 in the UK and seven in Ireland. Brand USA expects to name these later this year, likely by the end of September.

The ambassador programme started in Australia and New Zealand, and Dixon hails the appetite here. "We've had a really strong pool of applications, which has been wonderful to see."

As for the UK market, amid all the aforementioned challenges, as well as ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, Dixon says the UK has remained "really resilient".

UK visitation to the US, as of May, was down by 2.2% year-on-year. But a nearly 17% spike in June arrivals – 331,535 versus last year's 283,628 – has put UK visitor numbers ahead of 2025 at the half-way mark. Visitation from Ireland to the end of June, by contrast, was down by 7.1% year-on-year.

"We've been relatively flat in the UK overall, and that's in the face of higher costs and a lot of competition in the market," Dixon reasons.

"And of course, this is the slowest time of the year for UK visitation, the first half. The biggest volume is in the second half so I'm really anxious to see the June and July numbers – I think there will be a springboard effect from the World Cup."

The Taylor effect

So what themes can agents capitalise on over the coming months? Road trips and the Route 66 centenary are a given, plus value-driven demand for multi-centres. Then there's bespoke travel, which Dixon describes as "the continued evolution of what we used to call luxury", something he discussed with TTG last year.

"It's aspirational in the sense of travellers upgrading themselves," he explains. "Then there's the high-end personalised luxury product which continues to grow in so many exciting ways. Some of that is in wellness and some in family. We're going to see continued investments in our theme parks, and national parks will be a focus for family travel.

"We continue to see sport and entertainment being major drivers of travel – we're all waiting for Taylor [Swift] to announce her next tour, and we're seeing it with Harry Styles too," he says, before revealing he was once on Taylor Swift's Christmas card list.

iStock / Ogulcan Aksoy

"People are prioritising live entertainment in ways they haven't before, it's becoming a significant part of their budget."

He pledges to help the trade "key in" on some of these trends early on. "They become red hot so fast, I think we in the industry need to stay one step ahead."

Dixon also encourages agents to look beyond traditional holiday requests and luxuries. "Luxury of space, luxury of time, luxury of silence," he continues. "People are focusing on wellness in new and exciting ways, and they're doing that through travel."

So what's next on Dixon's agenda? "I'm anxious to go on a sleep holiday," he quips. After a busy few weeks over here and with the World Cup done and dusted, he's probably earned one.