WASHINGTON | The Travel Industry Association (TIA) today announced Travelocity as the official online travel provider for DiscoverAmerica.com, the Official Travel and Tourism Website of the United States. As part of the official designation, Travelocity will offer its online hotel reservation services for the website’s five initial markets: the UK, Germany, Canada, Mexico and Japan. Scheduled to launch in Spring 2008, DiscoverAmerica.com, which is being developed through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, will reach the top five inbound markets to the U.S. which account for about 75 percent or 37 million international visitors to the U.S. each year.

“Travelocity’s private labeled platform offered through its World Choice Travel division, was just what we were looking for,” comments Adam Vance, TIA’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Development. “Ease of integration, content in local languages and outstanding supplier participation were very important to us.”

DiscoverAmerica.com will feature in-depth content on U.S. states, territories and destinations as well as activities, official entry requirements, a community network, and mapping. The site will be available in English for consumers in the UK and Canada, and will be fully translated into French, German, Japanese and Spanish for consumers in Canada, Germany, Japan, and Mexico.

“We are proud to work with TIA to show tourists all over the world what our country has to offer,” said Tracey Weber, chief operating officer, Travelocity. “This site is a great way to make travel planning easier for our customers, which is something we are always striving toward.”

The website encourages consumers to learn more about the U.S., research their travel planning needs and book travel. These efforts are influential in helping to increase international inbound travel to the U.S., a key objective of the website.

The Travel Industry Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $740 billion travel industry. TIA's mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States. TIA is proud to be a partner in travel with American Express. For more information, visit www.tia.org.