Three Tips for Generating PR in the Travel Industry
In March 2020 when every flight was grounded and country borders around the world shuttered, I was leading the PR efforts for an international travel company. As time went on, we quickly realized travel, let alone international travel, would not be an option for quite some time. During those unpredictable times, I challenged myself to get really creative around generating PR for a brand, and quite frankly an industry that was essentially not operating. It was an intimidating time in my career but I came out the other side having learned so much more as a PR professional. I’m now passing along some of my learnings to all of you with my three biggest tips for generating PR when there’s no “news” to tell.
Read more on my tips below.
Slice & dice the data. As PR pros, we can be very successful serving as an “investigator” into our client’s data. Dive into that data and determine where there are trends to uncover. What stat shows a prediction? What booking number infers a trend? The media never turn down a good stat that can support a prediction so if you can supply that, it’s a surefooted way to get your client into an article.
Position your executives as thought leaders: Push your executives to share their POVs on the industry as a whole and listen closely for soundbytes that are unique, speak to a trend or provide a prediction. The more you can continuously offer your executive as a travel industry expert with strong quotes, the more likely those media outlets will circle back to you for a source request when they’re writing that big industry piece. Tidbit: this actually happened to me when international borders began opening up and the AP reached out to me for a quote from the President of my company at the time.
Source beautiful images for industry roundups: In travel, one of things we could offer people when traveling wasn’t possible, was the opportunity to dream about other destinations, albeit from one’s living room. Make sure your travel client is constantly sourcing new, beautiful, ownable images to pitch to the media. This is a great way to be included in industry rounds ups and obtain a photo credit. It’s not something travel brands are always thinking about, but the media is always looking for new and unique images.
Even if you don’t work in travel, these tips can be applied to other industries as well. The biggest takeaway from my experience working in travel during a global pandemic is that the media is still always looking for stories to tell, even if it feels like the world is falling apart. Much of the time, the media was looking for stories of inspiration - perfect for travel - as consumers were looking to distract from everyday fears of the global pandemic. As a PR professional, remember there’s always a way to create an angle to insert your client into that news cycle.
~Tess