CIEE Continues BridgeUSA Celebration Tour in 2026 To Highlight How International Exchange Makes America Safer, Stronger, and More Prosperous
Authored By:
In 2026, CIEE will continue their celebration of U.S. Department of State’s BridgeUSA international exchange programs that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous with visits to renowned Park City, Utah, idyllic Mackinac Island, Michigan, fun-filled Wisconsin Dells, and vibrant Ocean City, Maryland.
The BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel program brings international college students to live and work in the United States during their summer break, helping businesses across America expand and extend the tourism season by an average of 50 days, contributing to billions of dollars to the American economy each year.
In each tour destination CIEE will celebrate host employers and other champions of international exchange who create meaningful cultural exchange for both BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel participants and their American teammates.
BridgeUSA Makes America Safer and Stronger
BridgeUSA programs bolster America’s national security and strengthen America’s public diplomacy by fostering mutual respect between Americans and people of other nations. BridgeUSA participants return home and spread word of their positive experience in the United States which improves the American image abroad and makes our country safer.
BridgeUSA Makes America More Prosperous
Most importantly, BridgeUSA participants enable local economies to prosper by extending the tourism season, allowing businesses to employ more Americans for a longer seasonal period, and allowing hundreds of local businesses to extend the duration of their peak-season sales surge, compounding the positive economic impact in each community.
“BridgeUSA provides a significant economic benefit to thousands of American businesses and communities around the United States,” said Martine Mangion, Senior Vice President, Inbound Exchange Programs at CIEE. “Many seasonal businesses are able to continue to support domestic jobs in their slow season thanks to the support from the BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel participants who businesses host during their busy season. Some of our hosts are able to stay open an average of 50 days longer than they would have without BridgeUSA participants. In addition, BridgeUSA participants spend their wages in the local community and across the country when they travel.”
“The BridgeUSA exchange program is the perfect definition of a government program that makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” said James P. Pellow, Ed.D., President and CEO of CIEE. “International students pay their way to come to America, they make American businesses more profitable while they are here, and then they return to their home countries with a deeper knowledge and respect for American culture and American values, including the power of democracy and free speech. If BridgeUSA did not exist, we would need to invent it, as it truly enriches all Americans.”
If you are interested in participating in a future CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration event, please reach out to Carye Duffin, CIEE Senior Vice President of External Affairs, at CDuffin@ciee.org.