Lux Industries and the Travel Industry Association

The United States is the only industrialized nation without a government-funded tourism office. As Betsy O’Rourke puts it, “Even the small country of Jamaica spends more money on tourism than we do.”

The Travel Industry Association of America, or TIA, set out to fill that marketing void. And the Internet is one way to effectively and economically reach international and domestic consumers who want to travel the US. And that’s when Steve McIntosh joined forces with TIA to build the web portal that is now well known as “SeeAmerica.org.”

Architecting the SeeAmerica.org site

“Steve is really the architect of the site – and for a long time he served as the default webmaster, too,” says O’Rourke.  That site started out with very little TIA-specific content; at first it was a collection of links to TIA’s various 2,000 association members – airlines, hotels, cruise lines, the states, convention and visitor bureaus, and others.

Over time, and with technology improvements, SeeAmerica.org morphed into a robust site that serves both its consumers and its members. “We were thrilled that Steve took a proactive stance on the site,” says O’Rourke. “He came to us with innovative ideas to make our site better.”

Now, SeeAmerica.org offers innovative solutions to TIA members and consumers. The site allows members to self-post their deals and promotions. And, with creative programs like “See America’s Byways,” and “See America’s National Parks,” travelers can plan their trips across the US.

O’Rourke sums up the TIA-Lux partnership by saying, “We now have an economical way to reach our constituents, both members and tourists. The web portal has created little extra work for us, but added a tremendous marketing capability.”

SeeAmerica.org gets about 2,000 visitors each day, and TIA reports that 15% of their visitors are repeat customers. For TIA, that’s good news – it means travelers find the site interesting, informative, and easy to use.