TikTok has kicked off a six-city tour called “Discover America,” marking the U.S. semiquincentennial by highlighting the roughly 200 million Americans and 8.5 million U.S. businesses active on the platform. The tour runs throughout July, with stops in New York, Atlanta, Des Moines, Las Vegas, Denver, and Phoenix.

At each stop, TikTok is spotlighting local creators and small business owners, from New York accounts like @angelbakednyc and @thebronxnative to Phoenix-based creators such as @craftychica and @birriakingz. The company is pairing the tour with an in-app experience that lets users follow along remotely by searching “Discover America tour” on TikTok or visiting a dedicated landing page.

TikTok is using the stops to showcase discovery and creativity features, including Local Feed, which surfaces nearby businesses and events, and Tako, the platform’s content-creation assistant. The tour also serves as a showcase for TikTok GO, the in-app booking platform for hotels, attractions, and activities that TikTok formally launched in the U.S. this May with partners including Booking.com, Expedia, Viator, GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Trip.com. That feature lets creators with at least 1,000 followers earn commissions when their content drives bookings, a program travel creator Amanda Dishman previously said had “slashed in half” the barrier to entry for commission-based earning.

Source: TikTok

TikTok cited new data from TikTok GO partner GetYourGuide showing activity bookings from American travelers were up 35% year to date, with sites such as the Ozarks Heritage Preserve in Branson, Missouri, and Space Center Houston ranking among the platform’s most-booked experiences. “Americans aren’t choosing between old and new America. They want both,” said GetYourGuide CMO Emil Martinsek.

The company also pointed to PlayMonster’s Hacky Sack brand as an example of commerce activity originating on the platform. After Hacky Sack content drove an increase of more than 8,000% in related searches, PlayMonster sold out weekly product drops on TikTok Shop in under three hours, with “Hacky Sack” becoming the top search term on TikTok Shop during the first two weeks of May. “The momentum we’ve built and continue to see explode across TikTok has not only driven significant consumer demand for Hacky Sack, but also demonstrates the power of pairing iconic play experiences with a modern, social-first strategy,” said PlayMonster CEO Jonathan Berkowitz.

Alongside the tour, TikTok highlighted safety features aimed at teens, including default private accounts for users under 18, disabled direct messaging for users under 16, and default 60-minute daily screen time limits, tools the company said support new search trends showing teens using the platform to explore hobbies such as harmonica playing and ice skating.

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