Travel PR
Public relations is the "Earned Media" branch of the PESO model (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned). Through a strategic effort, PR can help brands and destinations build mutually beneficial relationships with media, journalists, travel writers, influencers and bloggers - helping to reach and communicate a message with their target audiences. It can help your organization meet a variety of goals, including:
- Increase brand awareness for a destination and its partners
- Seek third party endorsements the destination through proactive PR, media and influencer relations
- Drive traffic to a destination, program or partner website
- Inspire year-round visitation
- Increase attendance at events, among seasonal attractions or within shoulder seasons
- Change perceptions of product or destination to help grow new markets or niche audiences
- Foster in-market pride for a destination among locals and residents
Trust is the New Competitive Edge for Brands
70%
of respondents say trusting a brand is more important today than in the past – a shared belief among age groups, gender and income.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust in 2020
How we Approach Travel PR
Travel PR helps further the story of your destination or organization, with our team using a mix of proactive and reactive media relations in local, regional and national markets.
Our campaign strategy starts with identification of your KPI (Key Performance Indicator) outlets and theme development using internal editorial calendars that outline key (evergreen) themes and timely, news-worthy angles. Proactive tactics involve planning for and seeking out opportunities with the media. Using the editorial calendar, we pitch targeted story angles to appropriate media outlets across multiple channels and platforms and respond to leads and interview requests for our clients.
Reactive tactics involve responding to opportunities with media as they come up. As part of our campaign efforts, we curate and respond to these media leads for our clients.
Our public relations strategy is extended through Media FAMs and Influencer Outreach, using hosting as a tool to secure more in-depth feature stories and high-level destination coverage.
Measurement
Our team uses The Barcelona Principles of PR measurement to ensure our clients meet their goals and recognize the impact of earned media outreach campaigns. The Barcelona Principles identify the importance of goal setting, the need for outcomes instead of output-based measurement, the value of social media, and take a holistic approach to measurement and evaluation. We use a 100-point scoring system to measure our placements, based on our clients goals, target audiences, and key messages.
Tourism Trend Guide: Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing has become an important part of our clients’ marketing strategy. In this eBook we share all the details of how our team finds, vets and works with influencers. BTI team members Sarah Blackwell, Colleen Onuffer and Jess Reilly documented our process in an information-packed 30 pages filled with tips and tricks to getting started in the world of influencer marketing. Download your copy today and get started finding and working with influencers to promote your destination!
Download your copy:
Travel PR Examples
Local and Regional PR Efforts Lead with Laughter to Build Brand Awareness
As of January 2021, we earned over 265.6M media impressions in national outlets and in key regional drive markets. Photo…
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Taking Charge of a Shoulder Season to Reposition Winter for Locals & Visitors
We earned 5.61 million media impressions in just four months, created video content that received 18,038 YouTube views, and 52,036…
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Creating Year-Round Demand with Storytelling & Strategy
How this Case Study may be relevant to you: The Haunted History Trail is a shining example of a multi-stakeholder project,…
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Attracting Canadian Travelers to Upstate New York Destinations
We earned 7.74 million PR impressions from 15 media visits including feature placements in major in-market publications, and influencer placements.…
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