How Travel Blogs and Social Media PR can support the Travel Industry

Here's a video that I found pretty interesting because I am now blogging about travel industry and public relations. Keith Jenkins, editor of Velvet Escape and Social Media Consultant talks about the potential from a collaboration between Travel Blogs and Travel Industry/Operators at TBU in Manchester. Even though this is just for one company, it is a great way to see how it can help other companies in the industry. It is a great way to support companies, Tourism Boards and PR agencies in marketing campaigns to promote tourism. He talks about one PR agency that actually works with Travel Bloggers and promotes one.

Going Green While Traveling

With everything going green recently it would only make sense for there be a green initiative for the travel industry. While exploring Travel Public Relations firm's website, I came across a site and non-profit organization called Sustainable Travel International.

Founded in 2002, STI is an organization that is dedicated “dedicated to providing education and outreach services that help travelers, travel providers and destinations support environmental conservation and protect cultural heritage while promoting cross-cultural understanding and economic development.”

They help to educate travelers, destinations and travel agencies on socio-cultural sustainability and environmental conservation. On their website they have a list of ways for people to support sustain travel practices. These are: advisory services, book sustainable and eco-friendly trips, buy local products, carbon off-sets, eco-certification, eco-directory , education and training, green travel market, member and travelers philanthropy.

For a complete list of services they provide and for a detail explanation about their services, go to Sustainable Travel International website. Enjoy!

Tips for Traveling Around Europe

After studying abroad in Italy in Spring 2009, I think I picked up a few tricks here and there about traveling through Europe.

One thing I was stressing about when packing for Europe was all my clothes. How was I supposed to fit three months worth of clothes into two suitcases? Then still have room for everything I planned on buying while abroad. There was no way. With some contemplating and repacking, it was decided that only 3 or 4 jeans are acceptable, a couple pairs of yogas and leggings, 10 or so shirts, and various shoes. However, if you are only going for a week or two this can be cut down drastically. Bring only one suitcase, wear a pair of yogas or sweatpants on the plane and bring one more, wear one sweatshirt if you must on the plane, bring enough shirts for the trip and various layers because you don’t know the weather. The key to Europe is layering. It can be hot one day and the next day it can be bone chillingly cold.

Traveling around Europe is easy once you get the hang of it. I recommend buying a Europass is you plan on traveling around to different countries. You can sleep on the train at night so you are rejuvenated for the day. If you are going to do the backpacking thing and sleep on trains, then you should get one of those backpacks that you see a lot of travelers with. You can fit everything you will need into these and it is easy to transport.

With hostels, you have to be careful. I got scammed and ended up showing up to Paris at 1 in the morning with no where to stay. Hostel World is a great website. They have hostels everywhere you plan on going and they have some of the best prices around. This is the only site I would recommend booking a hostel off of.

These are just a few recommendations from a fellow traveler. This website can help you with everything else you need to know and goes more in depth with every aspect Back Pack Europe. Untimely, enjoy every minute you are abroad. It will go by in the blink of an eye and it can change your life.

“I met a lot of people in Europe, I even encountered myself,” James Baldwin.

KWE Partners Predictions for Travel PR Trends

KWE Partners is an award winning strategic marketing and public relations firm that is located both in New York City and Miami. They specialize in luxury travel, lifestyle and real estate. KWE Partners go to “great lengths to identify emerging trends so clients can benefit from changes in the marketplace” (http://www.kwegroup.com/).

Back in January, they made a list of 10 predictions for travel PR trends for 2011. Below is the list of the predictions. After reading through them all, I have to agree. Especially with the Director of Content or number 5. The web is expanding with all new social media outlets. There should be one person who deals with all of these outlets, plus written and digital newsletters and websites. The following list can be found at http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110126006733/en/travel-pr-trends/travel-public-relations-trends.

1. Measurement, measurement

PR will be further pressed to provide ROI to employers and clients. Reporting will not just include coverage, engagement, quality of relationships, influencers and opinion makers reached, brand awareness and the success of key messaging, but also, influence on sales revenues. With more and more analytical tools coming to market, firms will need to demonstrate stronger results for clients.

2. Ideation

There’s been an explosion of new travel product and with it comes more competition. It has become more important than ever to communicate the uniqueness of a product, setting it apart from the pack. Traditionally, PR has been viewed as publicity, primarily a promotional conduit for communications and building relationships with the media. What will be realized is that the right PR firms can be a creative powerhouse for the generation of ideas for new products, features and services that can add value to the consumer experience, generate press coverage and revenue.

3. Confluence of marketing disciplines

A trend to watch for the near term is the growth of unified services to help deliver on ROI. Ultimately, businesses need to meet their business objectives and some don’t particularly care whether it’s with the help of PR, advertising, or digital marketing, as the lines are blurring between disciplines. Final decisions come down to results and budget, and there’s a perceived value element in bundled services. It’s becoming increasingly important to have all the tools in the marketing arsenal – a fully integrated package that’s readily available for clients. Expect to see more of these disciplines coming together via mergers, acquisitions or formal alliances that provide total integration.

4. Print media is rebounding

While audiences will still turn to social channels where they can discuss with their peers, it’s important to remember that social media is still only one slice of the media mix. 2010 proved to be the year magazine publishers took hold of the reins by integrating print and digital ad sales counterparts. As a result, magazine sales are up for the first time since 2007: magazine ad sales revenue was up 3.1% in 2010, a turnaround from an 18% decrease in 2009. For affluents in particular, while they are digitally savvy, they still expect a luxury brand’s presence in print because it’s still regarded a credible source. Savvy PR and marketing pros will recognize that there are buoyant and effective growth markets to be found in print, i.e. niche, community and industry media.

5. New corporate PR position - Director of Content

Just as editorial directors across the country have been told to see themselves as content providers, so too should PR professionals. Corporate PR Directors, already wordsmiths, manage strategic messaging and they collaborate with marketing. So who better to create, manage and deploy content across a portfolio of channels – print, digital (website content, enewsletters), and social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.). Perhaps this new Director of Content will report to the Chief Content Officer (formerly the Chief Marketing Officer)?

6. Travel industry will wake up to the importance of images, video

Too many hotels just don’t seem to get it –their websites are typically second generation sites that have graduated from brochures to e-commerce platforms (i.e. reservations), and have not yet embraced social media, quality images and video that engage and help reinforce brand attributes. 2011 needs to be the year of the “a-ha moment” as to the value of engaging content, and a willingness to commit a large portion of the marketing budget to it. Hotels are in the experience and memories business; they must create an initial experience that provokes the “I love it!” response.

Likewise, PR strategists will spend more time developing the visual aspect of news and take advantage of today’s video consumption boom. It attracts attention, entertains, informs, increases visitor engagement and motivates consumers to sample or buy product. Moreover, YouTube ranks first in Google’s search results.

7. Service content rises in prominence

As consumers increasingly turn for guidance and how-to’s online, opportunities are increasing for companies and executives to get added exposure through service-oriented articles providing education and thought leadership. At the other end of the spectrum, with social sharing of news, whatever grabs attention and is controversial will stand out from the crowd and more likely to be shared on Twitter and Facebook. Also, expect more research data from PR firms, made possible by the ease of online surveys.

8. Public relations continues to rise in value

The adage “out of sight, out of mind” applies now more than ever. After the recent Great Recession, it’s imperative that brands and companies be visible by announcing that “we’re still here for you” (and haven’t gone out of business like so many others). Moreover, the PR pros of today are working outside of the traditional PR box, and have become quite skilled in creating their own video and digital content for clients. They have become socially interactive in online communities and are speaking directly to mass audiences in their language.

9. Storytelling drives engagement

Facts are great, but a story is better. PR is in the storytelling business. The storytelling approach is the most powerful driver of engagement in social media, where the media, consumers and influencers alike are connecting, interacting and sharing content. Moreover, good stories give your consumers an excuse to spend, create an affinity with the product, and help consumers feel more educated about your product.

10. Freelance media back on PR’s radar screen

With the steady downturn in the number and circulation of print media, freelance writers have watched their markets dwindle. As a result, they’re branching out, expanding their outlets by becoming authors, bloggers, providing content for mobile apps, varieties of new 'lifestyle' travel guides (e.g. Louis Vuitton guides, Gucci’s Little Black Book), and for hotel/destination websites, which are increasingly providing more travel and local information for browsers. With this in mind, PR Pros who are looking for new approaches and places to get their clients visibility will be turning to freelancers.

Celebrations Around The World

In America, we take holidays pretty seriously. We go all out on the decorations and costumes, no matter what the occasion is. Halloween we get dressed up and prance around collecting candy when we are little, in college we dress up and go to parties and then as soon as we become parents we are off dressing up again to get candy with our children. St. Patrick’s Day, even if you are not Irish, you are dressed in green and out drinking green beer. Being a travel blog, I figured why not write about where the best place to go in America and abroad is for Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and Carnival.

St. Patrick’s Day

Dublin, Ireland

How could this not be the number one place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? The city is transformed through parades, decorations and parties starting on March 13^th until March 19^th. The main attraction of the whole week is on St. Patrick’s Day. They whole a huge parade, festival, and there is a treasure hunt that is all held on this day. For more information check out http://www.stpatricksfestival.ie/ for all the details.

Chicago, United States of America

It is one big green party in Chicago the weekend that leads up to St. Patrick’s Day. The Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day the Chicago River turns literally green for the day. 45kg of vegetable dye is poured into the river at 10:45am before the annual parade starts at noon. There is also a Queen contest that is held every year. They are named 2011 Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and they ride on the float. For more information check out http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/.

Carnival

Viareggio, Italia

Although when you hear about carnival in Italy, you hear about Venice. However, one of the oldest and biggest carnivals is held in the town of Viareggio. It takes place between February 25^th and March 13^th. It involves music, dancing, carnival parades. There are five parades over the course of the weekends that leads up to Lent. There are huge floats, puppets, performers, shows, masked balls, music, and lots of drinking and eating. The main event takes place on Martedi Grasso or better known as Fat Tuesday.

New Orleans, Louisiana

This is the place to be if you are partying in the United States. Fat Tuesday is the biggest day of celebrations. Everyone gets dressed up, there are parades, and there are balls, food and alcohol. For myself, I want to eventually go one day and experience this for myself. For more information about the French Quarter and their celebrations go to http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/.

Halloween

Salem, Mass.

How could you not spend any part of Halloween in this town? I have gone here multiple times to just explore the town and be a tourist. The history of the town is interesting in itself and adds the aspect of Halloween then it ought to be a spooky time. There have been witch trials and executions and these are definitely spun into modern celebrations held every Halloween. The entire month of October is dedicated to Halloween. There is a grand parade, the great pumpkin carving contest, re-enactment of history, costume balls and a haunted cruise. Not to mention all the Halloween costume contests.

London, United Kingdom

Surprising isn’t it? I figured it would be the home of Dracula or some medieval place in the outskirts of a town but London? Hey to each its own. They have something called the London Zombie walk, which I’m guessing puts them over the edge. Hundreds of people dress up like Zombies and walk along the streets of London, visiting 12 pubs along the way. Special events are also held all month and historical sites add a little holiday creepiness to their places. Special Halloween club nights are promoted and there are haunted dance rooms. Put up your pounds for an entire month of scary behavior in London.