Destination tourism boards have a complex job. Developing tourism in their prospective regions is a multifaceted venture. These destination tourism boards are often presented with limited resources in a competitive market and yet are expected to reach stakeholders including local tourism and hospitality companies, as well as the local communities. 

Creating a unique character or voice for the destination is crucial for breaking through the travel media space clutter. Be it destination marketing organization’s (DMO’s) websites or social media channels, destinations are in the business of creating content that can engage travelers on an emotional level, encouraging them to seek out more information and ultimately, influence their travel buying decisions. 

Media fragmentation and continued shrinking of editorial real estate posed new challenges for destinations in recent years. Relying heavily on traditional PR tactics, most destinations are struggling to adapt to the new media landscape and fully leverage organic PR opportunities to reach their audiences. 

Along with traditional PR tactics such as press releases and media pitching, “newsjacking” or “culture surfing” is a great PR approach that can further drive awareness and greatly aid in creating a unique voice for destinations to engage with travelers. Newsjacking is essentially inserting your client’s voice/image into breaking news, if the shoe fits, borrowing equity from what’s being covered that moment. It’s not easy to do and in fact, requires real-time execution, asking clients to move quickly with approval of strategy and ultimate direction. It is mostly underutilized by DMOs because of the quick turnaround. When executed properly, newsjacking is a very effective tactic that could be adopted by most destinations. Here are some helpful tips: 

  • Set Up Protocols: From identifying the opportunity to execution, most newsjacking opportunities require a 24-hour turnaround time. For most DMO’s, given their decision making structure, this is unviable. Destinations could overcome this obstacle by setting up protocols for responding to organic news opportunities upfront; most importantly, empowering just one person to make the final call on execution.
  • Monitor, Monitor, Monitor: It is impossible to recognize an opportunity if you are not aware of the scenario presenting itself. Destinations should monitor the media landscape not just for brand mentions, industry awareness and competition, but also to be savvy about emerging trends and viral news across print and online stories. Many times, organic PR opportunities come from outside the industry pages.
  • Stay Focused: Staying true to the brand’s voice is more important than jumping on the bandwagon of every opportunity presented. Destinations should look for ways to break into the news cycle, but be selective and pick the right moments to insert their voice into the news only when it aligns with the overall destination strategy. Many destinations target specific travel niches, like adventure or wellness. Staying focused on leveraging opportunities to promote those niche areas is a good start to a successful newsjacking strategy.  
  • Plan Ahead: Destination newsjacking opportunities are created both within and outside the travel and tourism pages. DMO’s don’t have to wait for an opportunity to present itself, they can look ahead to identify major upcoming events and anniversaries and align some stories ahead of time to have readily available for the right opportunity.

Seizing on a cultural moment to insert a destination story into the news cycle can generate sizable rewards by generating organic media chatter, improving destination awareness and strengthening a brand’s voice. Newsjacking should never be rushed into, but with an approved process in place destinations can engage creatively and hopefully benefit from real-time media. 

Mia_Salazar_presoBy Mia Salazar, Senior Account Supervisor at Coyne PR