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