CIEE's BridgeUSA Celebration Tour: Ohio and Kentucky Stops
Authored By:
CIEE launched a year-long, nationwide, BridgeUSA Celebration Tour to raise awareness of the power of BridgeUSA to improve the lives of all Americans.
The BridgeUSA Celebration Tour kicked off this month in Sandusky, Ohio, at the iconic Cedar Point Amusement Park, continued on to Mason, Ohio, to visit the famous Kings Island Amusement Park, and concluded the week at family-favorite Kentucky Kingdom. Senior resort staff, local business leaders, staff members of congress, and participants from dozens of nations gathered in each location to celebrate the power of BridgeUSA.
BACKGROUND AND IMPACT OF BRIDGEUSA
BridgeUSA was established by Congress in 1961 to advance American interests at home and abroad, enhancing American businesses, enriching American communities, and enhancing America’s image abroad, making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
Each year, BridgeUSA participants help over 4,000 American businesses extend the tourism season by up to 45 days, or 30% of the summer season, allowing businesses to stay open later and longer, leading to enhanced local economic benefits while injecting more than $1.2 billion into the broader U.S. economy each year.
The core premise of the BridgeUSA program is that international students come to America at their own expense on temporary visas to help American businesses and American communities thrive. BridgeUSA 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, someone would need to invent it, as it truly enriches all Americans.
THREE-YEAR BRIDGEUSA CELEBRATION TOUR
CIEE has planned a nationwide, three-year BridgeUSA Celebration Tour to showcase the many ways in which BridgeUSA positively impacts local communities like Sandusky, Mason, and Louisville. The power of BridgeUSA lies in its lasting effect in American communities by creating rich cultural exchanges for international visitors while enhancing economic opportunities for local businesses.
At each stop on the BridgeUSA Celebration Tour, business leaders, local community advocates, and individual exemplary staff are recognized for their contributions to strengthening their local communities while advancing American interests with the CIEE BridgeUSA Champion Award.
You can get a sense of the excitement of the Ohio and Kentucky events of the CIEE BridgeUSA Celebration Tour in the video below:
Congratulate the CIEE’s 2025 BridgeUSA Champion Award Winners!
Please join us:
- July 2025 – we celebrate BridgeUSA in Wyoming and Montana at Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Old Faithful
- August 2025 – we celebrate BridgeUSA in South Carolina at Myrtle Beach
- September 2025 – we celebrate BridgeUSA in Texas at the Alamo in San Antonio
The 2026 BridgeUSA Celebration Tour dates will be announced at CIEE’s 2nd Annual International Exchange Conference (IEC), October 7-8, 2025, at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.
To join the BridgeUSA Celebration Tour or for more information about events in your area, please reach out to Carye Duffin, CIEE Senior Vice President of External Affairs, at CDuffin@ciee.org.