Mr. Luciani

Social Media & PR

Developing Partnerships with CVBs and State Tourism Offices

By Doug Luciani, Chief Associate, PRofit from PR - Public Relations & Marketing

In today's marketing tool box, public relations continues to grow in importance. The reason for this is simple. The strategy of talking at consumers through advertising alone is no longer a successful one. Now, consumers respond to dialogue, relationships, interactions, and honest communications. The strategies and tactics to best accomplish this fall under the public relations umbrella. After all, PR has always been about building and maintaining relationships with multiple audiences.

With many tactics falling under the PR umbrella, many hotels find their PR budgets growing. However, those budgets are not limitless. How can you accomplish it all? One strategy is to take advantage of the opportunities available by partnering with your local convention and visitors bureau, tourism development council, chamber of commerce, or state tourism office. By partnering with these organizations, a hotel can pursue opportunities they may not be able budget for on their own, such as reaching international markets.

The first step is to identify effective and important PR tactics. Media relations, or publicity, is usually the first that comes to mind, followed by special events. However, the list doesn't end there. Newsletters, consumer promotions, and crisis communications should also be included. New technologies and mediums include blogs and podcasts.

State tourism offices and most CVBs will have a PR team, or a representative on the marketing staff, pursuing public relations initiatives. If your hotel is trying to get its story out to travel writers, food writers, feature writers, etc., then partnering with your CVB or state office is a great way to accomplish that goal.

In order to take advantage of these opportunities, contact the appropriate person at the CVB or state office and communicate your interest in working with them. Let them know your hotel can assist writers with valuable information and host journalists. That may seem obvious, but in my contacts with the PR reps from these organizations, time and time again, I hear about only a small number of hotels reaching out to the PR teams and maintaining those relationships.

The next step is to make sure any communications from the destination or organization you are working with are directed to the appropriate contact at the hotel. For example, each week Visit Florida, the Sunshine State's tourism promotion corporation, sends out a list of journalists and the information the writer is seeking for upcoming articles, such as special packages, new amenities, etc. If these leads are not received by a person at the hotel who is going to respond, the opportunity is missed.

Destinations also work regularly to host writers who will then return home and write positive stories. In order to do this, destinations work with properties to provide complimentary accommodations. By simply partnering with the destination to host the writer, your property can receive valuable exposure in return. Again, it is important that these requests for assistance be directed to the appropriate contact at the hotel. There is usually a deadline and a response must be sent back to the destination in a timely manner before the opportunity is lost to the competition.

Hosting writers is more than just working with individual journalists. Many destinations host fam trips and bring in a group of writers. Again, partnering with the destination to provide accommodations, meals or complimentary amenities is a great way to bring writers to the property. If you are planning your own fam trip, many times CVBs or state tourism offices will work with you and help cover airfare, ground transportation, or sponsor meals.

This flow of information is a two way street. Don't wait for the destination to send you the leads or the request to host a writer. If you have news that would be valuable, such as new amenities and packages, it is important to send the destination PR teams your press releases and information so it can be on their mind when they speak to writers. In many instances, they will post your press release on their media Web site or include it in e-blasts sent to an opt-in list of journalists. It is common for these databases to include hundreds, if not thousands, of writers both nationally and internationally.

Does your property have the budget to send a public relations representative to meet with journalists at trade shows, such as Pow Wow, ITB or World Travel Mart? Destinations often send their PR representatives to these shows. By simply providing your information you can have a presence, even if your property does not have the budget to send a representative to these events.

When it comes to dealing with the media, a destination PR team can also be valuable in times of crisis. For example, in Florida we dealt with active hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005. Many of the destinations and Visit Florida included special updates on their Web sites to keep both consumers and the media informed of openings and closings. These proved to be valuable resources to get the information out to travelers and helped many areas return to normal, especially those areas that received little or minimal impact from the storms. USA Today praised the Florida Keys for their updated information which included details on hotels in the region.

Destinations can also be a great partner for consumer promotions. Consumer promotions are an excellent way to extend a marketing budget while gaining publicity and exposure. Promotions involve no exchange of cash; instead a hotel simply provides accommodations on an in-kind basis for media exposure. An example of this is when a radio station provides a free trip to a listener for being the tenth caller. Finding these opportunities can be time consuming. Oftentimes, destinations look for these opportunities and need hotels to provide the trips. In other cases, the station or retail outlet may approach you directly to provide the trip package. However, they may also ask for air or attraction tickets. The destination can be a great partner to cover those costs.

Gaining additional exposure for your property by using public relations is important in today's marketplace. However, because of budget limitations it only makes sense to investigate and take advantage of partnerships with CVBs and state offices. Many properties are already working with these organizations for co-op advertising, sales missions and travel agent programs. Public relations opportunities are no different and can prove to be even more valuable.

Understand that PR requires a long-term commitment; it is a process that evolves over time. It is the consistent communication of useful news and information that generates publicity, regardless of whether it comes from you directly or through a destination partner.

Large or small, any property can benefit from effective PR efforts. After all, you can't spell profit without PR.

Doug Luciani leads PRofit from PR, focusing on media relations, marketing communications, e-marketing strategies and media training. PRofit from PR's clients span the U.S. and feature technology, healthcare, security, real estate and corporate training. Mr.Luciani also serves as VP of PR for Dickinson & Associates, and Chief Communications Officer for Florida Vacation Auction. A graduate of the University of Florida, he is a member of the Florida Public Relations Association, the Public Relations Society of America and several regional business development organizations. Mr. Luciani can be contacted at 407-719-6102 or doug@profitfrompr.com Extended Bio...

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