PR NEWS continues its look at PR trends in specific vertical markets. This week: the hotel biz.
Hotel PR jobs - particularly those on the consumer marcom side - are still among the most enviable gigs around, although this sector is feeling the pinch of the tight economy
just like everybody else. Declining business travel (no more IPO road shows and dotcom schmoozefests) means lower occupancy rates for most hotels. Plus, consumer vacationers who
weren't so tight with a buck last year are now all about price.
"We went from five or six years of writing about all these over-the-top things hotels were doing to cater to people with lots of money. Now, all of a sudden, the mentality has
shifted from extravagant consumption to rates and deals," says Emily Kanders, corporate PR director for New York-based Loews Hotels, an upscale chain with 17 properties. "The big
challenge right now is getting out a message of 'fabulousness' that's also tied to good value."
Promos R Us
Hotel insiders unanimously agree that the hospitality industry, once image-obsessed, has become much more sales focused, of late. "I still have a media goal but what I'm
really supposed to be targeting is stuff that generates immediate revenue," says Susan Stiff, area PR director for the Westin Tabor Center Denver and surrounding properties owned
by its parent company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Time once allocated to pitching soft stories is now spent plugging weekend travel packages to get customers in the door
pronto, she says.
And Stiff's job isn't just a matter of redirecting packaged deals from the sales department to the press. Rather, she conceives and implements her own sales promotions in
accordance with media lead times and cycles. "If I didn't do it, it wouldn't happen," she says. "Our sales and marketing department is so busy, they don't have time to worry
about what we need for Labor Day, and by the time it hits them, it's too late. I'm used to thinking long term." (By mid-August, Stiff had a Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck in the
lobby of the Denver Westin - to be given away to one lucky guest when the new model officially hits dealerships on September 3.)
The lines between PR, sales and marketing have similarly blurred at Dallas-based Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, according to Kathleen Casper, regional director of PR, who
handles publicity for the hotel's Florida and Caribbean properties, out of Miami.
"Today, our sales and marketing executives are looking to PR as a viable arm of their sales team," says Casper, who has worked hand-in-hand with Wyndham's sales team to develop
innovative programs such as "Feeding the Iguanas," a guided excursion from the St. Thomas hotel that lets kids experience nature and interact with scaly reptiles in their native
habitat. The press has feasted heartily on the program and the package has been a big hit with traveling families, a coveted target market.
The Loews PR team created a "Grade A Kids" summer promotion, offering free desserts and cool school supplies to kids bearing good report cards at check-in.
Where the Rubber Hits the Road
As in many industries, hotel consolidation has prompted some chains to phase out their in-house PR positions (mostly through attrition), and instead out-source PR to local
agencies, or hire former staffers as consultants. Kimberly Mikami Svetin, who previously held management positions with Hilton Resorts and Ritz-Carlton in Hawaii before founding
her own firm, Ocean Blue Communications, in Seattle, engineered such a deal. Svetin juggles PR projects for The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua and Salish Lodge & Spa in nearby
Snoqualmie, Wash. (The most recent was a $600 tax rebate Salish vacation package.)
"Instead of paying a top salary to a PR director, with benefits, expense accounts, 401K plans, it's smart to hire an outside firm," says Svetin.
Other hotels, however, prefer to maintain their own full-time employees as a control measure. "At the property level, PR becomes the net that catches a lot of
responsibilities," says Kanders, noting that Loews relies on seven regional PR staffers to handle not just media relations, but also VIP liaison, event planning, collateral
development, group business pitches and community relations programs.
Last June, for example, regional PR staffers helped coordinate "Bark Breakfast" fundraisers that benefited local animal welfare organizations in markets nationwide.
Strategically, the events were a coup in reinforcing Loews' ubiquitous pet-friendly policy. "We rely heavily on regional people to execute a lot of our community relations and
local PR initiatives," says Kanders.
(Contacts: Emily Kanders, Loews, 212/521-2833; Kathleen Casper, Wyndham Hotels, 305/779-2023; Kimberly Mikami Svetin, Ocean Blue Communications, 425/427-6056; Susan Stiff,
303/572-7275)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Web
Your summer package for families scored massive ink in the press, but can customers find it on the Web? According to Pamela Johnston, president of New York-based boutique
agency PJ Inc., the biggest PR challenge for the hospitality industry - in an age where customers are circumventing travel agents to book their own plans online - is cross-media
brand consistency.
For hotels, a solid "bumping into" factor (the number of places both online and offline that customers encounter your brand) is paramount. A customer searching for a
particular hotel online may be easily distracted and end up booking elsewhere. "Consumers are fickle. Someone else's picture next to your text [on a travel operator's site]
could kill you," Johnston notes. For this reason, search engine optimization, digital promotions and ongoing monitoring/updating of affiliate programs are critical. "If your
print PR campaign is doing well, but your online program is weak, you could almost end up negating your own efforts on the print side," she says.
(Pamela Johnston, PJ Inc., 973/259-0480)