Why & How U.S. “Places” Can Work with International Press
October 31, 2016 | By: DCI
These days, the most media savvy pros know that you should avoid limiting pitching your place’s news to only U.S. outlets. Although globalization is an obvious reason for this, there are two specific factors that make international press coverage beneficial for U.S. destinations.
Awareness for Foreign Direct Investment
Foreign direct investment plays a big role in the U.S. economy. Since 2006, the United States has been the world’s leading recipient of foreign direct investment. Essentially, the United States has an open economy with relatively low barriers to foreign direct investment. Inflows of FDI total well over $1.5 trillion since 2006.
FDI creates jobs too. According to the United States Bureau of Economic Development, in 2014 foreign-owned enterprises (FOE) were responsible for 5.2% of total US private industry employment, or 6.4 million jobs.
Where is this foreign investment coming from? These are the top ten source countries for foreign direct investment in the U.S., according to the Organization for International Investment:
- Netherlands
- Japan
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Germany
- Luxembourg
- France
- U.K. Islands
- Hungary
- South Korea
Awareness for Tourists
In addition to foreign direct investment, foreign tourism also plays a large part in market success in the U.S. The United States National Travel and Tourism Office (USNTTO) reports that there were 75 million international visitors to the United States in 2014, and together these travelers spent $220.8 billion dollars. The popularity of the United States as an international tourism destination shows no signs of waning– the USNTTO also predicts that the number of international tourists will reach 90.3 million per year by 2020.
According to the National Travel and Tourism Office, these were the top ten home countries for international tourists to the U.S. in 2014:
- Canada
- Mexico
- U.K. Islands
- Japan
- Brazil
- China
- Germany
- France
- South Korea
- Australia
Breaking Down the Task of Pitching the Media Across Borders
Seeking coverage in any of the countries on these top ten lists would be useful, but to double your potential impact, pitch media in the six countries that made both lists to start: Japan, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
Not familiar with the media in these places? Here are a few broad-reaching outlets to begin with:
- Japan
- Canada
- The Toronto Star
- The Globe and Mail
- Le Journal de Montreal
- Germany
- Der Spiegel
- Die Welt
- Die Zeit
- France
- Le Monde
- Le Figaro
- Agence France-Presse
- UK
- South Korea
Each of these outlets has U.S. based “stringers” who are assigned to cover the United States. Though, the good news is that all of these stringers speak English, so you won’t start with a language barrier – and many of them are interested in visiting markets all over the United States.
When pitching members of the foreign media, it is important to clearly highlight in your pitch the tie to their specific country – whether it is a large new investment from a business from their country, or a high density of their native population present in your market.
Still need more help? There’s an office for that! The United States Foreign Press Offices, located in New York City and Washington D.C., offer valuable services to help connect you with the international media. If you have an event in those cities that you would like to invite the foreign press to, or if you would like to put together a group trip to your market, the FPO can help promote this opportunity through their weekly “Press Pass” released to their network of more than 500 reporters each Friday.
What has your experience been with foreign media relations? Leave us a comment below or tweet us @aboutdci.