Brand USA is riding a post-World Cup high and hoping that social media clips of happy fans can help draw more international travelers to the U.S.

In mid-July, the destination marketing organization launched "More to Love," a social media series that thanks international soccer fans who traveled to the U.S. for the World Cup and invites them to come back, using real fan footage from social platforms.

The series includes one static post and three short videos rolling out on Brand USA's channels through Aug. 8, with paid media also running across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and Ireland. The videos feature a blend of energetic stadium and street-celebration clips with quieter shots of American highways, national parks and small-town main streets, all set to the John Denver song "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

Each one ends with the tagline "There's so much more to love."

"The World Cup created an extraordinary opportunity to showcase the energy, authenticity and welcoming hospitality of the U.S.," Brand USA CEO Fred Dixon said in a statement. "'More to Love' builds on that interest by thanking travelers for coming, reminding them how much remains to be discovered and inviting them back to explore even more."

During a Brand USA board meeting on July 23, Robert O'Leary, director of the National Travel and Tourism Office at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said that the World Cup's reach went well beyond the visitors who actually traveled to the U.S. He called the soccer tournament "perhaps one of the greatest public relations events in American history," thanks to the plethora of fan photos and videos that were seen by millions of people worldwide.

Brand USA chief marketing officer Leah Chandler said the campaign was designed to channel that same fan energy back out to the world.

"We had the opportunity to speak directly to our visitors," Chandler said. "We wanted that to feel really authentic and warm, not too polished or advertised."

The "More to Love" series builds on a video-heavy strategy that's been proving especially effective.

According to Chandler, video content has become the strongest performer within Brand USA's broader "America the Beautiful" campaign, which launched last October. She reported that the organization's monthly ad-tracking study found that positive video influence on interest in visiting the U.S. climbed to 76% in June.

"It's the strongest response in the eight months since we started the tracking, and that strength holds no matter which spot audiences see," said Chandler.

She also cited "American Originals," a documentary-style video series under the "America the Beautiful" umbrella, which she said has generated about 197 million views since March, with engagement rates that "exceed benchmarks by more than 120%."

"More than seven in 10 respondents say that the advertising makes them want to learn more about what to see and do in the U.S.," she said. "That's the campaign turning attention into active trip-planning, which we love to see."

Brand USA's robust campaign efforts come as inbound travel to the U.S. continues to lag.

Total arrivals reached 15.2 million through June, down 4% year over year, Brand USA senior director of research Chelsea Benitez told the board, citing data from Tourism Economics.

Tourism Economics recently revised its 2026 forecast downward and is now projecting 69.9 million international arrivals for the year. That is 700,000 fewer than its March forecast and trims the expected 2026 growth rate from 3.4% to 2.4%.

"The revision is largely the forecast catching up with the actual data," said Benitez, adding that Tourism Economics' longer-term outlook remains unchanged, with 85 million visitors projected by 2030.

Benitez highlighted several key markets that have emerged as bright spots. Five of Brand USA's top overseas markets are now growing year over year, led by Colombia, up 17%; followed by Japan, up 5%; Argentina, up 2%; and the U.K. and Brazil, both up 1%.

Benitez credited the World Cup with helping to drive some of that growth.

"In June, arrivals from countries participating in the World Cup were up 2% overall year over year, while nonparticipant nations were down 7%," she said.

The organization is hoping that a coming wave of additional marquee events will help create similar momentum.

"We have an exceptional opportunity in the U.S. to leverage major events that began with the World Cup but include the Route 66 Centennial, the L.A. Olympics and Paralympics, Men's and Women's Rugby World Cup, the Winter Olympics in Utah," said O'Leary. "All these major events will continue to draw millions of visitors to America. We want to maximize this opportunity."