Discover America heads north for annual updates

New hotels, food and beverage tourism and special promotions for Canadians are among the 2019 developments in store from a number of U.S. travel destinations.

More than 30 U.S. travel destinations made the trip north this week as Discover America Canada held its annual Media Day in Toronto, sharing destination updates for the coming year. 

The event also featured a keynote address from U.S. gold medal Olympic skier Jonny Moseley, who has teamed up with Visit California to promote the state’s tourism offerings. Moseley is one of the California personalities included in the tourism board’s Dream Big campaign and has also partnered with Visit California for a new project titled Jonny Moseley’s Wildest Dreams, showcasing the skier as he checks off bucket list California experiences, from taking part in a cattle drive to rock-climbing.

Partner updates

Here’s the latest updates from some of the participating partners at this year’s event:

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment

According to Randy Anger, SeaWorld's director of marketing and sales for Canada, Canadians will have more opportunities to check out the parks’ latest attractions with an exclusive Canadian pricing offer running from Oct. 1 to April 30: visitors can enjoy one park for $74.99 or two parks for $99 (valid at SeaWorld’s four Florida parks), with a new option to add on a meal plan. In addition to promoting its animal rescue efforts, SeaWorld will also be adding a new Sesame Street-themed land at SeaWorld Orlando, coinciding with the popular show’s 50^th anniversary.

Gold Country & Mammoth Lakes Tourism

One of California’s premier ski destinations, Mammoth Lakes has joined the Ikon Ski Pass program, which gives skiers unlimited access to up to 36 ski destinations around the world. In nearby Gold Country, the destination is celebrating the 150^th anniversary of Hwy. 49, one of California’s historic driving routes featuring opportunities to explore local gold rush history, wineries and more.

Visit Santa Barbara & Santa Barbara Hotel Group

Santa Barbara will see a number of new and renovated properties in 2019, including the new 124-room Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito and additional enhancements to the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara, which recently underwent renovations including all 358 guestrooms. Local gastronomy is also in the spotlight with the opening of several new food complexes, including the 1,900-square foot Tyger Tyger, offering South Asian fare.

Travel Texas

Rebounding from the impact of Hurricane Harvey last fall, Texas recently surpassed the milestone of 503,000 Canadian arrivals. According to Rosalyn Hunter of Travel Texas, the Lone Star State is actively promoting itself as a weekend getaway destination, made possible by a number of direct flights from Canada including a capacity of more than 9,000 weekly seats through Air Canada. The new TEXRail train will also debut next year, quickly connecting travellers from DFW Airport to the city of Fort Worth.

Visit Florida

The Sunshine State has recently added a pair of new family experiences, including new Legoland Florida Resort, offering 150 acres of Lego-themed family fun just 45 minutes from Orlando; and the new Astronaut Training Experience (ATX) Center at the Kennedy Space Center, allowing guests to train for a variety of space missions, complete with a spacewalk experience. New hotel openings include the Sarasota Modern, a new boutique property offering just 89 rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.