PICTURES: ISTOCK
DESTINATIONS PR AND MARKETING
Be professional
with your Large or small
company, good news
public
or a crisis, Jackie
David looks at the best
way to handle your PR
Reputation is everything in
the travel trade. Knowing
how to enhance your
standing with existing
and future customers, and
how to minimise the negatives when
things go wrong, is essential for
growing your business. This is where
the art of public relations comes in.
As demonstrated by the inclusion
of two seminars at this year’s
World Travel Market, PR as a tool
to promote your business – and
as a means of managing a crisis – is
increasingly important even for the
smaller agency and sole trader. So
what’s the diff erence between PR
and marketing your business?
The Chartered Institute of Public
Relations deputy director-general
Ann Mealor said: “PR is what you do,
say and what others say about you.
“Good PR is about managing your
reputation and building long-term
relationships – that’s probably the
biggest diff erence between PR
and marketing.”
Large-scale PR doesn’t come
cheap, but there are obvious ways
smaller companies can employ
the tricks of the trade for their own
ends at minimal cost. “Working
with the media can be
very benefi cial – it helps
promote your business
and services and the
particular benefi ts
of using your
company,”
said Mealor.
Writing your
own press releases
when you have good
news – such as the winning of
an award, opening a branch or
72 | Travel Weekly | November 7 2008
running a promotion – and
approaching the local media as a
travel trade commentator is a way
to raise your profi le.
As business expands, you
can bring in a professional
on a short-term or ad hoc
basis for a specifi c project.
“Specify what you want and
agree with the consultancy or
independent how many days a
month you need – although
you don’t have to hire them for
months on end,” said Mealor.
“Set your objectives and agree
how you will evaluate them and
what your expectations are.”
When the news is good, the do-it -
yourself approach is fi ne – it’s when
things go wrong that an eff ective PR
response can be a little trickier.
Short of hiring a consultant or
PR SESSIONS AT
WORLD TRAVEL
MARKET
What: PR Workshop – An
Introduction to PR, by Chartered
Institute of Public Relations trainer
Laurel Hetherington.
When: Thursday November 13 at
11am-12pm, North Gallery 8, ExCeL.
What: PR Workshop – Crisis
Communications: How to positively
manage your brand during a
crisis, by Regester Larkin
consultant Roberta Ramsden-
Knowles and Regester Larkin
director Tim Johnson.
When: Thursday November
13, 12.30pm-1.30pm, North
Gallery 8, ExCeL.
bringing someone in house to
manage your PR, there are some
things you can do to minimise
making a gaff e when contacted
by the media during a crisis.
“Travel companies have crises
to deal with on occasions – when
something goes wrong with a
customer and things fl are up,”
said Mealor. “You can be caught
on the hop if you’ve never dealt
with the media before – when
the news is good you go to the
journalist, but when the news
is bad they will often come
straight to you. There may be a
perfectly good explanation why
something has gone wrong, but
you might fi nd it hard to get
that message out – especially if you
are panicked.
“Smaller companies just have to
make sure they take their time when
dealing with [something] negative –
ask what the journalist wants, write
down the questions and say you’ll
get back to them. Get the correct
answers and make sure your staff
know what you’re saying so they say
the same thing, and update your
website,” said Mealor.
She points out that PR is not just
about press releases and responses
in a crisis – it’s essential to make it
part of your core business strategy.
With the internet and blogging, a
bad holiday experience can spread
like wildfi re, so it’s essential to make
sure you have a response.
“Things can go wrong very
quickly so remember customer
service is all about communication –
look after your customers from the
start, communicate with them and
make sure your front-line staff are
www.travelweekly.co.uk
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