Hotel site visits, yes or no on press trips?
New bylines & call for pitches...NatGeo, HuffPost, TIME & more.
Hello from Bermuda! It’s super windy here, but the water is so blue and the sun is trying to come out. After last week’s series of incidents - A PR person sent me to meet their client an hours drive away, only for their client to know nothing about this meeting. Then, my VA quit, my favorite sandals broke, and America got back with its ex.
On a positive note, New Mexico Tourism sent me a gift card to Starbucks for our virtual coffee meeting, a travel writer friend referred me for a guidebook job, I signed a contract to speak at a school in Feb 2025, & I published my first story for NatGeo!
Also, I pitched a story to HuffPost on Thursday & it was accepted, edited & published within a week.
Should you include a hotel site visit on a press trip?
Last week, Joni Sweet & I hosted a press trip planning masterclass, which was very well attended. We received a lot of acknowledgements after as well. If you missed it & want to watch the recording, let me know.
One question that came up, which is often not addressed, is how to make hotel site visits more fun, or if they should be included in trips at all? So I put together some best practices for hotel site visits that you can share with your trip planners and hotel clients.
Travel writers have different needs than travel agents. We are more interested in the “story” of the property, rather than looking at every room category. What is the history, art, or what makes the stay special? Feel free to point us to key view points or spots that have a quirky story attached, or used for a famous movie shoot.
When I was at the Rosewood Baha Mar this summer, they had the resident artist give me a private art tour of the property & he pointed out the significance of each of the artwork through the lobby & the restaurants. It also made me appreciate the decor even more.
A good way to accomplish this is by having the property owner or manager join the journalist for a drink or dinner & share information. On a group press trip in Grenada, we had dinner with the second generation owner of Spice Island Beach Resort & was able to hear her backstory & philosophy of how she took care of her people (something you can’t find on a site inspection).
Find out what the journalist is interested in. Joni and I are generally not interested in seeing kids clubs and golf courses, but a quaint library or a luxurious spa would draw our attention. I also like to see edible gardens & go behind the kitchen, bar & sustainability programs.
Book hosted writers the best room category available, so they can experience their stay, take photos & feel like they were treated well. I just stayed at a suite at the Fontainebleau in Last Vegas where I could see the Sphere from my window. Impressed, I already wrote 2 stories about it!
Also, make sure the room you host your travel writers in, is most updated, clean & functioning. It’s stating the obvious, but is often overlooked.
Let the staff know that there is a travel writer in the house (feel free to share their name and photo so they are recognizable). You don’t need to treat the writer like a celebrity, but sometimes, it helps to form a common connection. When I arrived at the Nobu Hotel Atlanta, the receptionist had a keen interest in my children’s books & wanted to chat about her own author journey.
Toronto Film Festival themed amenities at Shangri-La Toronto I love a welcome amenity in the room - fruits, chocolates, a bottle of champagne & a handwritten note from the team. (Make sure to include silverware). It’s even nicer when hotels make an extra effort to gift amenities that I can use during my trip. The PR at Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto left us fun gifts in the room at the end of each day - personalized PJ sets, bath bombs, TIFF chocolates, scented sprays, etc.
Site visits should be on the agenda, & not squeezed into free time. Also, allow lots of free time for the writers to explore the property at their own & not just come there to sleep.
Room inspections can be made more fun by having a different music, appetizers, or a treasure hunt through the different room categories. Joni had a lovely musical experience at the Four Seasons Nashville where they brought in local musicians to perform.
Nothing beats a personalized hands-on experience. Instead of doing a hotel site visit, include dining & activities that would encourage the writers to explore the property anyway. Yoga at the beach, treatment at the spa, sundowner cocktails, planting a tree - are a few ideas to begin with.
Finally, do follow up with fact sheets, follow up marketing materials, contacts and photos by email (no paper please).
Should you visit a hotel you are not staying at? It depends! If the hotel is brand new & relevant to the destination story, it may be worth making a detour. If you just want to show the inventory of everything you have in the destination, then maybe not.
A story from just site visits? It is rare, but sometimes, site visits may be the full story. Travel+Leisure once asked me to do a story about all the resorts in Hilton Head Island, so I organized to go to each hotel, but still really focused on the amenities & common areas more than the rooms.
Client Relationship Masterclass
On Monday, Nov 18, the one-and-only Taryn Scher will be in Atlanta, having a LIVE discussion with me. Taryn Scher, “The Sparkle Boss” has spent the past 16 years building her award-winning public relations firm specializing in the travel & hospitality industries. Her clients have been seen on CBS This Morning, The Today Show, and Good Morning America, as well as features in Travel + Leisure, O the Oprah Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and thousands more.
We will address some of these topics:
How can travel PR compete for coverage in a few coveted publications? Or should they?
What’s your role between your clients and writers?
How do you talk to your clients who push back on press visits and ask for guaranteed coverage?
How do you formulate story ideas with your clients? Whats the process like?
What kind of press trips are you most excited about planning in 2025?
Paid subscribers will receive recorded video through Substack.
If you have any questions you want us to answer, please email them to me by 11/17.
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Holiday Gifts For Kids…
As you shop this holiday season, why not give an educational travel book authored by someone you already know? And I will be happy to autography them for you! Purchase ‘Beato Goes To’ series on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Mascot Books or a signed copy directly through me. I can ship it directly to your recipient too.
PITCH REQUESTS
Here is what I am looking for at the moment…
New, newsworthy, groundbreaking, influential and compelling PLACES that are helping set a broader travel trend, giving voice to marginalized communities, or helping revitalize a neighborhood or city. Please read TIME Magazine WGP 2024 for examples. Deadline Nov 29.
If you represent small luxury cruise lines that are media-friendly, please get in touch with me ASAP! Can be anywhere in the world.
Best hotels in the world to ring in the new year. Still looking for good pitches. Please specific WHY/ WHAT makes the hotel ideal for NYE celebrations. Must be available to host in 2025.
Best hotels in the world at airports for long layovers. No deadline. Must be available to host in 2025.
South Asian (Indian) culinary trends, cookbooks, and products appealing to Indian-American community. See example of a good pitch I ended up writing into a story.
GA based new restaurants (not new menus or list of openings), new businesses (chocolate factory, ice cream store, etc), culinary festivals, human interest stories, cookbooks & fresh ideas.
I have some great content for you based on the topics you shared! Sending you an email!
Such a great read, I’m currently exploring a potential collaboration with a Michelin-starred restaurant in Malaysia, where they’re considering sampling bespoke UK tableware. Let me know if this might fit into something you’re working on.