Do you have someone on staff to handle media relations? If funds allow, this is an excellent strategy to maximize awareness and gain the utmost exposure. In-house public relations can be so strong for a hotel, resort, destination, as it allows a spokesperson to really focus and dedicate efforts for promoting your product. But don’t use this individual to handle all the miscellaneous activities unrelated to public relations. It is not unusual for a really good p.r. person to be an excellent jack-of-all-trades. And that is because good p.r. people are very resourceful and always can find a contact or an answer to any issue. But don’t allow hotel management to always “throw anything” their way. Let the p.r. person concentrate on press relations, special events and media.
If resources for P.R. are limited and you can’t afford an on-site person, consider bringing in an outside public relations expert to focus on specific proactive tasks, serve as the liaison with writers and editors, and assist your hotel with publicity efforts.
Remember, public relations demands a professional with the experience, writing skills, public speaking skills, and media relationships to capitalize on. This effort should not be left to a sales secretary or the general manager’s assistant to simply “handle.” The p.r. activities should not be thrown on to someone as created additional work. Public relations truly requires a polished, refined and intelligent presentation from the professional dedicated to this discipline. The time, organization, creativity, skill, and media contacts required for a successful effort, takes experience and know-how.
How does public relations fit into your marketing plan?
reprinted with the permission of National Hotel Executive