The inaugural Brand USA and Hawaiian Airlines MegaFam departed yesterday with 57 lucky agents from Australia and New Zealand – flying with Hawaiian Airlines to the USA via Honolulu
The agents will split into groups, and spend five days exploring one of five mainland destinations and surrounding areas.
Team New York will visit The Rockefeller Center and a dinner cruise; Team Las Vegas and Nevada will head to Death Valley and Boulder City; Team Sacramento and San Francisco will cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge, while Team LA and San Diego will ride on horseback around the Hollywood sign and Team Portland and Seattle will try a craft beer tour.
Through Brand USA MegaFam experiences, travel agents and tour operators are better informed, empowered and inspired to sell a multitude of USA destinations.
The teams will be accompanied by representatives from Brand USA, Hawaiian Airlines, and the hosting destination tourism boards.
The entire group will then meet in Honolulu for the final two nights, to share their MegaFam stories and experiences and attend a Grand Finale event hosted by Brand USA, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaii Tourism Oceania, Mastercard and The Modern Hotel, Honolulu.
All agents will arrive back home on 24 March.
“We’re excited to showcase the breadth and diversity of the U.S. to these agents, as well as highlight Hawaii as an ideal stopover to pair with a mainland U.S. trip.”
Ollie Philpot, Director Brand USA Australia and NZ
Andrew Denman, Head of Sales and Marketing – Australia, Hawaiian Airlines added: “We are delighted to be able to partner with Brand USA to showcase our US mainland network to 57 agents from Australia and New Zealand and celebrate and share the experiences in a grand finale to take place in Hawaii to conclude the Brand USA and Hawaiian Airlines 2015 MegaFam”.
During the MegaFam, each team will have the chance to try their hand at filmmaking, making a short movie to showcase their USA adventures.
These films will premiere at the Grand Finale event and be judged by an expert panel, with each member of the winning team receiving a $100 shopping voucher courtesy of Mastercard’s cash passport program.
Participants were selected based on the volume of Hawaiian Airline sales booked to the USA, between 1 December 2014 – 15 February 2015.
During this time period agents booked over 600 flights to the USA on Hawaiian Airlines.
Agents also must have completed the regional expert module of Brand USA’s Discover America online training program.
Hawaiian Airlines flies non-stop daily from Sydney and four times weekly from Brisbane to Honolulu and beyond to the neighbouring islands of Maui, Kauai and Hawai’i Island, as well as connecting direct to 11 USA mainland gateway cities, including New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and more. A
ll flights departing Sydney and Brisbane are operated by modern Airbus A330-200 aircraft offering Business Class, Extra Comfort Class and Economy Class.
