FAM trip attendees visit Tulum during a press trip to Esencia Estate in 2013
If you were to ask the top journalists in New York City one question – “what do the press value most?” — the resounding reply would be simple, “first hand experience.” For travel companies, press familiarization (FAM) trips are key to securing high-impact feature coverage that reaches and resonates with travelers in their target markets.
Our team specializes in planning and executing press trips that garner outstanding results for our clients in publications including National Geographic Traveler, The Boston Globe, Islands, Organic Spa, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, The Huffington Post, NPR and many more. From distributing invitations, to credentialing journalists, confirming assignments, hosting the trip and following up, our dedicated team works with clients every step of the way to guarantee the biggest bang for the buck in the form of powerful, positive media results.
But why, you may ask, are press trips so important in bringing about top tier media results for travel companies? Below our team breaks down five reasons why press trips are travel companies’ best friend and an essential component of travel PR campaigns.
Five Reasons Why Press Trips Are A Travel Company’s Best Friend
1. The Power of Firsthand Experience – There is no greater sense of knowledge than that brought about by experiencing a hotel, tour or destination first hand. Journalists relish the opportunity to actually experience your product, and in fact, firsthand experience generally provides the opportunity to uncover new and different story angles that enhance the resulting coverage. After all, readers tend to prefer and assign greater value to experiential travel stories.
2. Managing the Itinerary – While it is the journalist who experiences your product firsthand, hosting press FAM trips allows you the rare opportunity to showcase the very best of your property, tour or destination. From start to finish, you are able to design a customized itinerary to appeal to journalists’ interests, while promoting your particular areas of expertise. Top public relations agencies work with clients to design ideal itineraries that garner maximum results.
3. Confirmed Assignments – Credentialing journalists and confirming assignments provides a guarantee of the results your travel company will garner from each attendee. It is imperative for travel companies to work with PR agencies that specialize in securing top tier assignments for FAM trips. From story angle to word count, detailed assignment letters allow you to put together the best possible FAM trip group to meet your company’s goals.
4. Fostering Relationships with the Press – Relationships with the press are essential to the development, growth and continued relevance of your travel brand. Traveling with and hosting journalists allows you and your public relations representative to foster relationships with journalists on behalf of your brand, making them more and more likely to include you in future stories when opportunities arise.
5. The Gift that Keeps on Giving – Finally, press trips are the gift that keeps on giving. Not only do the initial assignments result in feature coverage focused often exclusively on your hotel, tour company or destination, but journalists often continue to produce additional features in years to come. For instance, in 2012 Sublime Samana Hotel & Residences was featured in Caribbean Travel + Life as the result of a press visit. In 2013, the same editor covered the hotel in a two-page feature in Islands, reaching an additional 300,000 readers.
What are some of your best press trip experiences that have resulted in substantial coverage for your hotel, destination or travel company?