Keeping up with Ongoing Changes to the Travel Media Landscape
LPR had an opportunity to hear trends and preferences from some top travel media last week, including Peter Greenberg, USA Today’s Veronica Stoddart, Catherine Hamm of the Los Angeles Times, and Norie Quintos of National Geographic Traveler.
Key takeaways from this opportunity include the USA Today Travel Deputy Managing Editor’s top ten travel trends of 2010:
1. Bargain Travel – travel deals are still expected
2. Health & Wellness Vacations
3. Culinary Travel
4. Adventure Travel – softer adventure key for families and Boomers (52% of Adventure Travelers are women)
5. Eco-Travel
6. Group Travel
7. Women-Only Travel
8. Cruising
9. Religious Travel & Pilgrimages
10. Volunteer Travel
Our job as PR practitioners is to make the media’s jobs easier, as newsrooms are constantly being re-purposed, often seeing a downsize in staff yet an upswing in outlets they must maintain. This results in less time spent on story exploration and more time spent on all the different platforms. Therefore, think like a journalist, know your outlets and create pitches that are newsworthy and current.
How is this accomplished? According to the panel, be consumer-oriented, think better, smarter, cheaper. Speak to interesting touch points such as a Kid’s Club, or freebies offered to guests, and not just the destination as a whole. Ask yourself before pitching, “Who Cares?” and “Why Now?” Talk to different departments within an outlet to find the best fit for your story, but always be transparent on who else you’re approaching when doing so. Be clear and concise, use hyperlinks in email pitches, and make sure the subject line is clear over clever, plus states the location of what you’re pitching, since geography plays a big part in piquing interest.
The panel also encouraged PR practitioners to forget the hard sell and instead demonstrate expertise, even if it means seeking out other possible competitors that are doing something similar. Think in longer trends, and make sure to do your math correctly when pitching, it’s the writers and editors that receive the backlash when you don’t.
Ms. Quintos relayed that editors are now seeing a “Return to Travel” this year, a welcome trend for all of us in the tourism industry.
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