Tom Garzilli named vice president, partnership programs for Brand USA
Brand USA, the public-private partnership responsible for launching the United States’ first-ever nationally coordinated tourism marketing effort, today announced industry veteran Tom Garzilli has joined Brand USA as vice president, partnership programs. Garzilli is responsible for developing and directing the execution of cooperative marketing platforms and programs that add and create value for U.S. destinations, travel brands and other organizations that promote the United States as a premier travel destination. These efforts are designed to work in concert with Brand USA’s worldwide marketing campaign to increase inbound travel to the United States, resulting in increased U.S. exports and increased employment.
Prior to joining Brand USA in March 2013, Garzilli was managing partner of Custom Marketing Group (CMG), an award-winning destination marketing and custom publishing company he co-founded more than two decades ago. Established in 1992, CMG developed and implemented a number of “first to market” solutions for leading destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs). The company maintained offices in Atlanta and Los Angeles until it was acquired in October 2012 by Tucson-based Madden Media, also a leader in travel and tourism marketing and custom publishing solutions. The merger of the two organizations created the largest cooperative marketing company in the United States for travel destinations.
CMG also has implemented effective international marketing campaigns targeting the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Latin America, and Canada. Among CMG’s custom publishing partners is the prestigious American Express group of publications, which includes Travel + Leisure magazine. In addition, working with digital publishing and tech companies Texterity, Sojern and Vertical Acuity, CMG developed and implemented a number of “first to market” solutions for destination marketers.
A veteran of 35 years in the travel industry, Garzilli first worked in his family's wholesale travel business, Flyfaire Vacations based in New York, from 1978 to 1989. While at Flyfaire, Garzilli developed cooperative marketing programs with Eastern Airlines, Walt Disney World and key destinations in the USA, Mexico and Caribbean.
He subsequently joined senior management with American Express Vacations in Norcross, Georgia. As Vice President of Marketing for the wholesale travel division of American Express from 1989 to 1992, Garzilli successfully managed an international marketing and sales team developed a global travel products line, and implemented cooperatively funded marketing campaigns in partnership with various divisions of the company and global destinations. As part of his leadership responsibilities in this position, Garzilli also managed American Express Vacation’s national trade show strategies and created a variety of training programs and seminars for retail travel agents and internal customers.
An active member of the Destination Marketing Association (DMAI), Garzilli earned his BBA in Marketing from Pace University, Lubin School of Business. He and his wife, Natalie, have three children—Tom, Cristina, and Annalee.
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About Brand USA
Brand USA is the nation’s destination marketing organization, dedicated to attracting legitimate international inbound travel to strengthen the U.S. economy, increase exports, create quality jobs, and promote community prosperity. By running data-driven campaigns and unifying messaging across industry and government, Brand USA positions the United States as a top global destination while providing current visa and entry information.
Since 2012 Brand USA, in collaboration with travel industry partners, has been responsible for attracting an additional 10.3 million visitors who spent nearly $35 billion in the United States, generating $76 billion in economic output, and sustaining nearly 40,000 jobs per year. Without any cost to taxpayers, these efforts have generated $10 billion in tax receipts and returned $20 to the U.S. economy for every dollar spent.