AALEP PROPOSES NEW SERVICES IN DESTINATION PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION

One of the most cost-effective ways of promoting a destination brand and product offering is through effective media communication, i.e. providing the various printed and electronic media with interesting and newsworthy stories about the destination, which can then be included as editorial content in the various media. In addition to the obvious cost advantages associated with editorial coverage, stories about the destination in editorial format carries more credibility as it is the objective view of the writer and not advertising that is designed to influence. Communication and PR can be promoted with various objectives in mind including:

• Continuous image and brand building, which can include stories, releases and other messages including:
• Selective media host programmes where travel writers and producers are invited and hosted by the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) and its private sector partners. The challenge being the selection of the most appropriate and potentially valuable media that can provide the best possible return on investment.
• Publicising positive news stories with strong emotional pull and impact.
• Publicising visits by celebrities and know personalities and arranging interviews with them.
• Sending out regular destination e-newsletters and product updates.
• Coverage and releases regarding special interest niches and topics.
• Destination storyline links to other related sectors e.g. film production, manufacturing industry achievements, etc.

Tactical Campaign PR

This includes communication in support of specific campaign messages, events, personalities, special promotions, etc. 

Image defense and crisis management

Communication and public relations are key methods of reducing the potentially negative impacts of crisis events in the destination e.g. criminality, terrorism, natural disasters, health scares, etc.

Some pointers to consider in making the best of communication opportunities are the following:

• Destination marketing communication and PR should be distinguished from corporate communications. While the objective with corporate communication and PR is to communicate and publicise the vision, achievements and actions of the DMO among its key stakeholders, destination communication is a key component of the destination promotion mix, with the objective of attracting more visitors to the destination.
• Given the importance of communication and PR in the destination promotion mix, it should be given a suitably senior status in the DMO – all too often PR and communication is a junior portfolio that focuses on corporate communication issues only.
• The DMO staff responsible for destination communication should have a good knowledge of the relevant media in source and target markets and should be able to match media with target markets to achieve the maximum impact.
• The DMO should check on and monitor the credibility of media hosted, by following through on media coverage resulting from hosted visits and tracking the production and publishing records of especially freelance writers.
• While the focus should be on foreign/external travel media it should be acknowledged that political and current affairs writers and media could also have a major effect on destination tourism image and these should be monitored and targeted for communication where relevant.
• Good local media relations are extremely important as i) the media will have a substantial influence over the tourism buy-in and support for the DMO’s activities ii) stories produced by local media are often catalysts for foreign media coverage or are directly taken over by foreign media. The DMO should do its best to establish and maintain good relationships with local media.
• One of the most important and often neglected aspects of media communication is to monitor and evaluate the returns achieved when media are hosted. This can only be done once stories on the destination are published and given the long lead times between media visits and actual publishing or flighting of stories a good tracking system is essential.
• Media relations should be continuously managed and nurtured – as with trade relations, good media relations are about personal attention and personal relationships.

Concerning media familiarisation trips:

• The hosted media and journalists should be carefully selected to compliment the strategy and objectives of the DMO, fit the target market profiles and have a track record of destination writing.
• The DMO should establish and maintain a data base of media that have visited the destination, what they have produced and other relevant comments.
• The itinerary and programme should be carefully crafted in co-operation with private sector partners to ensure optimal coverage but also adequate flexibility.
• Support materials such as press releases, fact sheets and photographs should be readily available to journalists.
• Aspects such as the number of articles resulting from a hosted trip, value of articles produced and an assessment of the positive vs. negative images published should monitored and evaluated.

Summary

For destinations, perception is reality and how a place presents itself and reacts to external factors can make the difference between success and failure. It is important to develop comprehensive communications plans that take advantage of the best case scenario while simultaneously preparing for the worst.

A communication strategy cannot be reactive and must align carefully with the long-term goals of the destination. Development of communication pillars, theme, tone and key messages are critical in staying on-message and building a successful brand in the hearts and minds of consumers and the media.

Once a communications plan is in place, PR comes down to relationships. A single piece of positive press can be worth more than a destination’s entire annual advertising budget. Generating that positive media means fostering relationships and trust with journalists and bloggers and also having the ability to act quickly and be nimble when opportunities present themselves.

There’s no one recipe for an effective communications plan and each program must be highly customized to the unique needs of the destination. Some of the many tactics that may  be employed include:

• Destination PR Strategy and detailed and transparent destination PR activity and budget plan (budget use and media coverage)
• Audience and Media Targeting
• Media Information (research, writing and enhance basic media information about tourism destinations – including fact sheets, background articles and more)
• Proactive Media Pitching
• Reactive Media Response
• Group and Individual Press Trips (organization of individual and group media visits to clients' destinations)
• Development of Press Materials (Destination press kits)
• Press Releases and Story Exposés
• Destination Marketing Website
• Destination Marketing Brochures (translation)
• Media Coverage Monitoring and Analysis
• New Bureau (Virtual press office for up-to-date and in-depth information about clients’ destinations)
• Relationship Building (with leading travel journalists)
• Blogger Outreach and Programming
• Alliances (Cooperative alliances with industry partners)
• Tradeshow PR (media relations activities at key tourism tradeshows)
• Special Events (special promotion and media events)
• Interview Prep and Speaking Points

Influencer Program

• Types of Influencers: Advocate, Ambassador, Citizen, Celebrity and Professional/Occupational
• Program Considerations to meet destination goals and objective
• Influencer Attributes
• Metrics