Tourist attractions in Manhattan and Washington, DC are noticeably empty these days. Yet cities nationwide have taken a less direct but economically serious hit from terrorism,
as vacationers and business travelers cancel their travel, hospitality and recreation bookings. PR pros in tourist locales are responding with communications designed to reach a
nation of consumers grounded by fear - and to get them traveling again.
"After September 11, everything changed in the world of travel and tourism," says Rene Mack, principal in the Travel & Lifestyle practice at Weber Shandwick. "For the first
time, the media and consumers realized travel and tourism are big business. They understood that whether you're American Airlines or a charter boat operator in Hilton Head [N.C.],
this business is critical to the economic success of the country."
Media stakeholders are no longer looking for soft, perennial news like stories about holiday travel trends. Instead, Mack says, they want hard economic news on the affected
industries. And consumers and businesses are postponing travel and worse yet, canceling it altogether. As a result, PR pros are being forced to come up with a radically different
approach to pitching travel.
Merging Media Relations
For Weber Shandwick, a new approach meant not only changing perspectives on travel and lifestyle PR, but adopting a tactic Mack says was "not conceivable" before September 11.
The company brought together five of its top travel and lifestyle clients -Marriott, Royal Caribbean, the Islands of the Bahamas, Linblad Expeditions and Hilton Head Island - to
create an unprecedented VNR.
"Agencies [typically] don't like clients to talk to other clients in the same practice area," Mack says. "The media was asking for information on deals, programs and packages,
they needed quality b-roll and collective material, and we had one of the largest hotels, one of the largest cruise lines and one of the largest Caribbean destinations in the
world. Why not provide the material they need?"
The VNR, which also included commentary from a licensed psychologist and other third party experts, went out last week to more than 800 media outlets.
As a resource for media, clients and colleagues outside Weber Shandwick, the agency has also begun producing Tracking Travel, a newsletter that includes the latest information
on pitching press with travel stories, trends in the travel industry, and data on major travel and tourism clients. The agency has distributed the newsletter widely and made it
available on its Web site.
Robert Morris, communications director for Georgia's Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism, has also leveraged media interest in the travel industry's economic health to
help revive interest in Georgia tourism. The agency launched a "Georgia for Georgians" campaign in the wake of the attacks offering residents 20 percent off at state park historic
sites, and encouraged private sector resorts and hotel chains to do the same. Morris then held a press conference to unveil the new initiative to the media as a stimulus to local
travel.
"We had all four [local TV] affiliates and CNN there, and all the [local newspapers] and wire services ran it," Morris says. "We've had a lot of calls and press
opportunities."
Going Local
Morris's campaign leverages the advantages of local PR, a godsend for the tourism industry since the attacks. "What we're seeing across the board," says Rob DeRocker, EVP for
Development Counsellors International (DCI), a New York-based PR firm with a focus on public sector travel and tourism, "is a reshifting of targets. We're seeing people focus in-
state in their immediate markets."
The Texas Economic Development Tourism Division, for example, had developed a local campaign targeting state residents with a "rediscover Texas" message before the attacks. In
the aftermath, DeRocker says, the executive director of tourism turned his full attention to that campaign, personally visiting local news outlets to deliver the message either
through PSAs or in-person interviews with interested media.
The state also launched a "Howdy, Neighbor" initiative targeting residents of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma - the four states contiguous with Texas.
Have No Fear
Although locally targeted campaigns recognize that many Americans feel safer on the road than in the air, many PR pros in the tourism industry are scrupulously avoiding any
hint of fear in their promotions. "Massachusetts is in a special category," says Andy Levine, president of DCI. "It's a victim without a victim - because two of the planes came
from Logan Airport. Our counsel to them has been to get out there aggressively with promotional campaigns but not make even oblique references to September 11 and the safety
issue." "You run the risk of two things," DeRocker agrees: "Either scaring people or appearing absolutely tactless."
While this year will most certainly not be remembered as the tourism industry's greatest, most counselors believe there is reason to be hopeful that Americans' confidence is
growing. "It's rebounding," says Tiffany Wentz, senior account supervisor with DCI. "Immediately afterwards [hotels] were like a ghost town, but in talking to PGA [Resort &
Spa, a DCI client], next month they have a spot that is sold out."
(Contacts: Rene Mack, 212/445-8123, [email protected]; Robert Morris, 404/651-8578; Andy Levine, Rob DeRocker, Tiffany
Wentz, 212/725-0707, [email protected], [email protected], tw@dc-
intl.com)
Travel Tools
Weber Shandwick's Tracking Travel newsletter offers news and advice (refreshed on a monthly basis) on the travel and tourism industries including:
- A survey released by the Travel Industry Association indicates nearly 67% of Americans said they would travel as they did before the attacks. Only 6% specifically cited
concerns about airplane security. - Shifting editorial travel focus, The San Francisco Chronicle will cover destinations in close proximity to the Bay Area and will start to
mix in far-flung destinations in coming months. - NBC's "Meet the Press" shifts from safety of travel to news about the War on Terrorism.
- Condé Nast Traveler will add pertinent info to its "Stop Press" news section. Editors encourage PR pros to continue pitching travel news as usual.
- European travel media are easing up on coverage of U.S. destinations.
See http://www.webershandwick.com/travel/sept2001.pdf