Friday 29 November 2013

Travel – standing out in a crowded market


Travel, Travel, Travel – I love it. I’m the most renowned traveler of my friends, colleagues, peers and family and having worked in the industry for many years it’s easy to get addicted.

However making an impact as a travel business is not a straight forward journey. You’re competing against thousands of holiday destinations from Bournemouth to The Cotswolds, Brazil to Suriname; you’re up against travel agents and tour operators, excursions, escapes and experiences, online travel agents and member websites, plus all the gadgets, gizmos, and gear that go with traveling.

From a PR perspective most publications offer just a couple of travel pages, and often to a destination, and national press have their travel supplements.  It really does limit your PR options. To stand out in the crowded travel market you really need to do something spectacular and that really means thinking off the beaten path.

Gain genuine consumer media interest and you can ditch the supplements and travel features and work your way through the main sections of your target publications. And to achieve this you need to look way beyond your product, instead at the 1) experience you offer 2) the way you operate 3) who you work with and 4) who’s behind the company.

Find those special stories that make you stand out as a business, but also look at your core values and discover how you can represent these through experiential PR and events, partnerships and endorsements. When budgets are tight, always look to business partners and associates for support – working in collaboration can really help the budgets go further; and could deliver an exciting prospect to the consumer press.

HOW TO – tackle the media

Destinations
Connect with the audience, appeal to the travelers you want most, and deliver the brand you want them to experience when they are visiting your destination. Help them breath, smell, and visualise where their travels will take them.

Travel businesses (Tour Operators/Travel Agents)
Demonstrate how you do things differently, communicate the experience, get your timing right when communicating to the media to optimise your sales performance across national and consumer press.

Online travel businesses
Keep the momentum going, be innovative with promotions, products, visuals and especially social media. It’s innovative and engaging content that will help you gain attention, even from the most skeptical journalists.

Timings for great travel exposure:

October – January:

It’s all about: summer holidays, weekend breaks/short trips, bargain deals, inspiration, winter vs summer.

Between Christmas and New Year the travel sales are in full swing and people plan and start booking their vacations for the next year. Take advantage of this time and make sure you’re as visible as you can be. If Boxing Day, 26th December, is the most popular day for travel search you need to start at least two months before, just so you can feature in the Christmas issues of glossy magazines. Drive your PR campaign throughout January and you are likely to pick-up a lot of traffic, especially as Europe is dull, grey and cold and people are keen to plan a warm getaway.

February – April:

It’s all about: early summer breaks, executive travel/non families.

Those families looking to budget and strapped for cash may have already booked their one holiday vacation a year, but you now have the chance to target the slightly more wealthy – those looking to do something different, which means you can avoid everything that was covered between October and January. It’s time to market for Easter, and appeal to the No Kids market with vacations before the schools break-up.

May – July:

It’s all about: Last minute breaks, kids’ holidays, quick escapes.

We’re back to the bargain hunters and families who are finally making up their mind for their summer vacation. On the other side you have the ‘power-couples no kids’ who want quick weekend escapes. This is your last chance to maximise the summer and get in those last minute bookings.

August – September:

It’s all about: Executive/non families, quick breaks, Christmas, the following summer.

More families are traveling at Christmas so do target this market, although on the whole it will be quiet for families. Instead remember the high-disposable income couples that want a quick break in the autumn and winter when other people’s children are at school. It’s also a chance to sell special offers for the end of Summer. Finally, incredibly budget conscious families will be looking towards next year’s vacation so they have a year to save – time to inspire them.

By Ryan C Haynes, travel media PR specialist