Top PR Trends in Travel Right Now
Tags: Public Relations, Travel, Hospitality, Entrepreneurship, Branding

PRontheGO: Top PR Trends in Travel Right Now

We asked PR and marketing experts in the travel industry: What are the Top PR Trends in Travel Right Now? What are great examples of branding in travel + hospitality? Which exhibitions, platforms, travel networks are trending? How to create a buzz for a travel brand right now? Here are their answers:

Brookes May, Co-Founder at Funbully, a modern, lifestyle PR agency:

“We work with lifestyle and travel brands all the time. Here are some trends we’ve noticed lately: 1) Writers are looking for experience-based travel ideas. It’s no longer enough to list fabulous “amenities,” you need to be talking about what there is to DO: yoga retreats, ski trips, bar crawls, local food tours, etc. 2) On the same vein, we’re seeing a massive uptick in publications and reporters writing about cannabis. For travel, this is especially important because cannabis-excursions and wellness retreats that involve cannabis (in legalized states, of course) are novel and becoming quite popular. I would direct your attention to: City Sessions Denver, a lifestyle experience that puts together custom cannabis tours for consumers and industry professionals. 3) “Unplugging” is trending in travel right now. As people become increasingly dependent on their devices, the opportunity to truly escape those pressures is enticing. Travel destinations and experiences with an element of “unplugging” are interesting and popular.”

Lauren Grech, CEO & Co-Founder of LLG Agency, a global event communications company, and Adjunct Professor at New York University:

“An increasingly popular PR trend in the travel industry is focusing on ‘wedding tourism’ and showcasing unique real weddings of their hotel, resort or venue’s property. Even entire tourism boards and regions are investing in public relations to assist in their strategies to attract and retain more destination weddings. They’re not only targeting niche wedding publications, but you’re seeing more and more wedding-related stories in mainstream media as well. Why this trend, this new target market? Because one wedding is all it takes. Where connecting with one family or influencer brings them to your resort for a single vacation, one couple who’s getting married will bring them and all of their guests to your resort for an emotional experience that is remembered for a lifetime, creating better word of mouth distribution and a higher ROI.”

Ashley Steinmetz, Founder at Perfect Wave Marketing, a boutique marketing and public relations firm catering to wellness, travel and leisure businesses and individuals around the world:

“More storytelling. Travelers connect with stories first and brand details second. I had a client with a hotel on a tiny Caribbean island where I focused on pitching the stories of the people responsible for guest experiences. Who was the man, for example, that swam out into the Caribbean every morning holding his breath for up to three minutes while he lie and wait to spear fish that never took the bait from a fishing line? How did he look so young at 74? How is it that he never once left this tiny one mile long island his entire life? What was life like never having traveled by plane or car? Did he know that he alone held the power over what made it on the hotel menu? Travel + Leisure, The Wall Street Journal and other top tier outlets picked up these stories. People love the story behind how things came to be. Who grows the ingredients, catches the fish, flies the plane, teaches your morning yoga class? Tell me a really good story. An excellent example of a travel brand doing it right on social media is another client, international yoga retreat company, One Yoga Global. Their posts focus on the stories of the yoga teachers leading the retreat, the locals offering the cultural experiences at the destination, and the travelers who returned home forever changed. By telling the stories and mentioning/tagging those a part of the travel experience from start to finish, you’ll extend brand reach and create more buzz.“

Ashley Parks, Digital Content Strategist at Nomadic Agency, helping brands engage an increasingly nomadic consumer across today’s most influential media channels:

“When it comes to travel, over 40% of millennials reportedly prioritize ‘Instagrammability’ when choosing a destination. Destinations need to make the visual aspect a top selling point, allowing travelers to envision how the experience will look on their social feeds. Adding special backdrops, art installations or photobooth style setups allow users to show off. Visit Scottsdale recently engaged local artists to create three “Instagrammable” murals that garnered attention near popular, high-traffic locations around the city.”

Adam York, Account Executive at Sublime Public Relations, a media relations firm that generates publicity about travel, sporting goods, recreational real estate, and exclusive clubs:

“We handle PR for a bunch of different adventure and luxury travel companies. There are more companies offering small group tours than ever before and it is tougher than ever to stand out. One of the biggest trends we are seeing is sustainable travel. Tour outfitters like Gondwana Ecotours are offering carbon offsetting to travelers. They also donate to NGOs in the communities where they travel. Another trend we are seeing is wellness travel. Bicycle tours, trekking tours, yoga tours, etc. are more popular than ever. For example, Tourissimo combines culinary tours with cycling on their chef tours of Italy. Solo travel is another big trend. Riviera offers river cruises designed for solo travelers. Dude ranch vacations are aso trending due to the popularity of the Kevin Costner AMC series Yellowstone. Ranches like Red Reflet Ranch in Ten Sleep, WY have seen a micro-burst of bookings from fans of the show.”

Thank you!

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PRontheGO.com — The Creative Entrepreneur’s source for PR hacks.

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