Inviting journalists on press junkets is a strategy frequently employed by PR firms to obtain publicity for the clients in travel, luxury and lifestyle products.
Sound planning and well-conceived media strategies will create press trips that:
· Are cost-effective and,
· Produce high quality results
If you are a destination, hotel, resort, cruise line, airline, or a tourist board looking to attract media to obtain publicity, look for a travel PR firm that has vast experience in this arena to ensure you don’t get burned.
Rules of Engagement
If press trips is a key component of your strategy, make sure your travel PR firm knows how to go about planning press trips that are both cost-effective and bountiful in terms of results.
For this to happen, your PR firm must:
· Work with editors or writers who are on staff. Publications will not assign someone to leave the office for a week or more if they do not intend to publish a piece from that trip. Magazine and newspapers staffs are lean, and every trip must count in terms of the content it produces.
· When working with freelancers invite only those who are published frequently and who often publish more than one story per trip. This person makes their living from writing and won’t waste their time on a trip that doesn’t produce several chances to get paid.
· Be very clear about the objective of the trip. Are you introducing a new property? Promoting a destination in the off-season? Your trip should have a stated goal, and it should be made clear in the invitation. Know in advance the stories you want to see.
· Make certain the product you are promoting is ready for its close-up! Don’t bring journalists to a property where construction is still going on, or to a restaurant still working out the kinks.
· Media training – As the client you will need to ensure that the CEO, the head of the tourist office, the GM, is on hand to answer questions. And a good agency will put you through media training so you are prepared to answer all questions, including controversial ones.
Three Essentials For Success
While most press trips are lavish affairs where media are wined and dined, journalists do not think of these trips as “free vacations. ” Press trips as essential to their livelihoods.
Their job is to report accurately to the public about your product. It is the job of your travel, luxury and lifestyle PR firm to make sure:
· The right journalists are invited
· The product is ready for scrutiny
· The personnel on hand are media-trained