Jazz brunch, swamp tour and more: Agents experience Northshore in ‘MegaFam’
MANDEVILLE – A group of 10 travel agents from Australia and New Zealand will be visiting St. Tammany Parish this weekend as part of a Brand USA ‘MegaFam’ designed to familiarize booking agents with Louisiana and Mississippi. The tour is one of six across the U.S.; there are 60 agents participating in all.
The St. Tammany Tourist and Convention Commission is hosting the Northshore portion of the fam (industry term for ‘familiarization’) on Sunday, Aug. 19. Among the activities the agents will experience are a swamp tour with Cajun Encounters, jazz brunch at Palmetto’s, tasting at Abita Brewery, a private tour of the Dew Drop Jazz Hall in Mandeville, bike tour, and dinner at Rip’s on the Lake. The agents will overnight at the Hilton Garden Inn in Covington before leaving for Mississippi Monday morning.
Air New Zealand and Brand USA, the official destination marketing organization for the U.S., have partnered to organize the agents’ visit, the first of its size ever organized for the Australian market. Brand USA’s mission is to increase international visitation in an effort to fuel the nation’s economy and enhance the image of the US worldwide. The Louisiana Office of Tourism and the St. Tammany tourist commission have worked closely with Brand USA in the past.
In addition to St. Tammany Parish, the agents also will be visiting New Orleans, Biloxi, and Jackson, MS over a five-day period. Following the Louisiana/Mississippi tour, the agents will meet the other five groups in Nevada before returning to their home countries.
For more information about the St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission or Northshore tourism, visit www.LouisianaNorthshore.com