For a hotel to receive recognition by the likes of such top tier publications as Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure is always an honor, but there is a special significance to the Reader’s Choice Awards announced annually. Conde Nast Traveler just announced the winners of the magazine’s 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards with two Dominican Republic hotels, Casa Bonita Tropical Lodge on the Southwestern coast and Peninsula House on the Samana peninsula receiving top hotel honors (first and second place respectively) in the Caribbean and Atlantic category.
Now in the third year of our public relations campaign for the 13-room Casa Bonita Tropical Lodge, our travel PR agency’s media relations and social media strategy continues to put this spectacular eco-lodge on the map. While our efforts remain focused on bringing attention to the property, we also understand and stress the importance of garnering interest for the destination.
As the top two placeholders in the Caribbean and Atlantic category of Conde Nast Traveler’s list prove, the Dominican Republic continues to stand out as the most popular island in the Caribbean. Yet, the hotels on the list are not located in the typical regions of the island that have long been associated with tourism – rather they represent a shift in interest to new, undiscovered and emerging destinations, the southwestern Baharona region and the northeastern Samana peninsula.
With major magazines, newspapers and online outlets now looking ahead to 2015, our team is focusing on highlighting the emerging destinations where our boutique hotel clients are located. Understanding traveler preferences and analyzing travel statistics from previous years and expected growth, we put together our annual pitch for the top Caribbean destinations for the coming year. The results speak for themselves year after year, as we find not just our client’s destinations but also our clients themselves referenced on such influential lists as The New York Times’ “52 Places to go in 2014.”
How do you set your hotel and destination apart from the competition to capture the attention of editors at top tier national publications?