This is a guest post by Christy and Scott.
We have been getting this question from many bloggers since recently securing our first press trip. I know this is high on many travel writers/bloggers list of things to accomplish, so I’ve written down the steps I take when requesting a press trip.
First thing to keep in mind about press trips is that you can’t be afraid to market yourself. Nine times out of ten, the press trips won’t come to you. You need to actively seek them out.
Put together a form letter to have ready to send to PR agencies.
For Ordinary Traveler, our letter includes:
1. Traffic Stats (Numbers from Google Analytics)
2. Alexa Score
3. RSS/Email Subscribers
4. Recognition Around the Web
5. Twitter Follower and Facebook Fan Numbers
Introduce your blog and let them know you have a loyal readership and specify what your readers are primarily interested in (ie: travel, photography, etc.). Even if your traffic stats are not high, it’s still possible to get a press trip if you show the company they can benefit from your blog promoting the destination.
Get creative and find a unique angle in which your blog can help bring tourism to that area. It is best to approach them with a way in which you can benefit them, rather than just asking for a freebie. Depending on who I’m contacting, I don’t always ask for a freebie. Sometimes I will just ask if they offer a media rate or a discount in exchange for a review or to promote an area.
We have had PR reps reply to our request by thanking us for such a thoughtful email. If you put time into drafting your letters/emails, you will come across as looking professional and as if you have done this before (even if you haven’t).
Find a place you either want to go or already have plans to visit.
My suggestion would be to approach PR reps during the area’s off-season. For instance, if you are looking to visit a National Park, plan on going in the winter months. This is their slow season and they are more likely to grant a press trip during winter than in the summer months when everyone and their mother wants to go.
After I have figured out the destination I want to go, I send out the form email, tailoring it to that specific area. For Scott and I, if we are going to a place that has waves, then I mention that we are surfers and our blog has a following of people interested in surfing.
There are a couple of different ways you can go about securing a press trip.
The first one is to contact tourism Bureaus for a country you want to visit. Sometimes they will pay for your flight (in our case they did, however I’ve been told this is not common). Other times they expect you to pay for your own flight, but they will pay (or give a discount) for your lodging and tours.
The second way is to contact hotels and tour companies directly and ask them if they would be interested in providing a discount in exchange for a review. This type of press trip is more common since you have a lot more options of hotels and tour companies to contact, rather than just one tourism bureau for an entire country.
Follow Through
This may be the most important part of going on a press trip. After the trip, follow through with what you told them you would do. If you said you would write 5 blog posts, then do it. Send them an email with the links and stats from each of those posts.
This is important not only for your blog’s reputation, but for travel bloggers as a whole. You don’t want to ruin the next bloggers chance at securing a press trip with the same company. Keep in mind that press trips are a great way to supplement your travel fund, but it should also be treated like any other job. In the end, you want the company to be happy they decided to sponsor you and your blog.
Have you been on Press Trip? Do you have any other tips for scoring free travel and swag?
Christy and Scott are two surfers riding waves around the world and sharing their experiences along with budget tips and unique photography. You can follow their adventures at www.ordinarytraveler.com or on their Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/OrdinaryTraveler.
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Great post. Thanks for sharing this info!
I have one question – how do you find those PR people? Do you simply look up a tour company you want to approach and try to find out who the PR person is for them?
Exactly! It’s not always easy to find the PR person, but that’s where the detective work comes in.
OrdinaryTraveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic
I have the same question… how to hunt down those elusive PR reps.
Gareth Leonard recently posted..Travel Review- EasytoBookcom
Great tips and exactly what I’m doing right now. I actualy got 2 press trips the other way around: I went to two hotels, I liked the look of, fully prpared to pay my way. Then I told them what I do, gave them my busniess card, showed them my bkog and several articles I ahd written for other magazines and got a vastly reduced room rate plus free transport ( a car and driver) and free trips to islands. Be charming and professional, above all, neither be shy nor bossy.
inka recently posted..Lifiting the veil in Sharjah’s Ladies’ Club
I’ve never tried this approach, Inka, but I would like to give it a shot. Great idea to have your business card ready!
OrdinaryTraveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic
Well put Inka.
Don’t be shy. It’s amazing what one phone call can accomplish. We have had our best luck by simply calling, asking for the PR or promotions staff and using this line:
“Hi my name is X, I’m an editor for XX, an online travel and food culture magazine dedicated to XXX. We have a monthly readership of about XX. We have a press trip planned through your area next month and are looking for hotels / restaurants / excursions that our readers would love to read about. I’m wondering if you guys would be interested in being profiled and if you have a special rate / discount for travel press.
This works wonders for Hotel, Dining, Excursions. Pair that with your frequent flyer miles and you have a trip that pays for itself
~Sage
Sage recently posted..The One and Only Camera App a Food Adventure Travel Junkie or Normal Person Needs
Great point, Sage. I have found when approaching hotels or tour companies directly that it works well to tell them you are on a press trip. It makes you sound more professional.
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 2
Nice advice Sage. I like how your present yourself as an Online Magazine. I often wonder if as “professional Bloggers” we should get away from the use of the word Blog. Shocking, I know, considering the name of the Travel Blog Challenge
You’ve nailed it Todd. The perception is the reality for the PR person on the other end of the phone. “blogger” conjures up someone in pajamas spilling cereal milk as they type.
A “writer / editor” for an online magazine is someone wearing fancy Prada glasses drinking a cappuccino reading the news on a 27″ Apple cinema display. More so as blogging hits critical mass and everyone and their designer dog has a blog.
~Sage
Thanks a lot for the great tips. This is not something I’ve gotten into yet, but I definitely want to and didn’t really know how to start. Great job yet again providing very useful information. And you got some of my favorite bloggers to guest post about it. Bonus!
Adam recently posted..A Stroke of Luck
I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Adam. Good luck to you on your first attempt at securing a press trip!
OrdinaryTraveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic
Great tips! Sounds simple enough.
AbsoluteADT recently posted..Woman on My Way
It sure is simple when you break it down like this, huh?
OrdinaryTraveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic
Awesome! These are really great tips. Where have you all been on press trips?
I couldn’t have read this post at a more perfect time! Kali and I were just talking last night about wanting to get started with this, but we didn’t really know where to begin…. and now we do.
We’re going to give it a shot in the next few weeks and see how it goes!
Christy @ Technosyncratic recently posted..Photo Essay- Everglades National Park
Great! Let me know how it goes for you guys!
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 2
A few months ago, we went on our first sponsored trip . . . in addition to this post, we also found Gap Year Escape’s post over at Almost Fearless very helpful in putting together our e-mail proposal. One thing that we didn’t realize before we went on our press trip was that you need to do something very specific on Google Analytics to measure how much traffic we sent to their site. They describe it over here: http://doteduguru.com/id1496-tracking-outgoing-clicks-with-google-analytics.html
Akila recently posted..one word portrait american portraits giveaway!
Thanks for sharing that site, Akila! There is so much you can do with Google Analytics. I found that showing them how many visitors went to each of the posts works too.
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 2
I used that post from Gap Year Escape as a model as well. I found it very helpful.
motravels recently posted..Travel Round-up – February 13
Christy,
I love this. I’m going to print out a copy and take to Costa Rica with me, since I’m in the unique position of working for an online travel company
I’d love to know how well it works when you use Flightster as your website!
Keep me posted on how it works too, Srinivas!
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
We posed this question on the forums recently and are planning to approach a few hotels/hostels and tour companies to see if they’re interested in offering us a discount in exchange for a review. Thanks for the great advice!
We definitely plan on tailoring our letter depending on who were approaching – one question though, do you recommend focusing more on what you can offer the company you’re approaching (i.e. two blog posts no less than 500 words in length) than traffic statistics?
Kieron recently posted..Save Money by Reducing Your Vampire Power
I honestly have never given specifics on how many blog posts I will write. I just send them our stats and offer to do a write up. They may come back with specifics on what they want in return, but I don’t send this information in the first email/letter.
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
Great article, Christy! This is a topic that I really wanted to learn more about and your form letter idea is excellent….it’s nice to be given a starting point when you are absolutely clueless which road to take.
Renee King recently posted..TRAVEL PHOTO THURSDAY
I know you were interested in getting more info on this, Renee, so I hope this helps you get started! Let me know how it goes!
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
Awesome, I might just try this for our upcoming trip to Kerala. I may approach the hotels to see what I can do! Will let you know how it turns out!
Vagabondkids recently posted..Let’s Talk about Sex Baby…
Please do report back, it’s great to hear what does and does not work and any extra advice you can lend.
Thanks for this! I’ve always wondered about this but haven’t tried to explore it yet. Sounds like a lot of fun but also a lot of work. A free trip may not be worth it if the partnership isn’t right.
Jeremy B recently posted..Travel Tuesday question of the week – what’s your most embarrassing travel moment
Thanks for the tips. Lately I’ve been considering approaching tourism boards and PR reps regarding press trips but up until now I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. For the longest time I felt uncomfortable approaching them on my own and thought that I needed to wait for someone to contact me instead. I’m glad to hear that it’s common practice to actively seek out the opportunities. I’m looking forward to getting started!
Laura recently posted..Weekend Links
Don’t be afraid to ask. So far the press tours I’ve done have come about because I’ve approached them. The travel blogger thing is still new for many of the PR reps and tourism boards and they don’t know any. At least that is what I’ve seen a lot here in Europe.
I’ve done a few press trips but they’ve been to places I’d already planned to go to. I then contacted the tourism board with my stats and was given a press packet once I got there that usually includes passes to the sights and attractions. In a couple of instances a was given a guided tour of the city.
Though I don’t have a problem asking, I was recently approached by a PR firm for the first time about an upcoming trip and I’m so excited. It makes me think I’m doing something kinda right, maybe.
motravels recently posted..Travel Round-up – February 13
Yeah, there is a great saying that if you never ask no one will ever say yes. Besides a slight bruise to the ego, a “no” does not hurt at all. If you think about your blog as a business, and you selling a benefit it all makes a bit more sense.
That’s great you got a PR firm contacting you! I’m a firm believer in always asking, since you never know what the answer will be and you just have to learn to not take it personal if somebody says no.
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
first, congratulations on getting your first press trip! was it the surfing one? that would be pretty much a dream come true! this is definitely something we will look into more when we begin planning our next trip, so thanks for the hot tips!
jamie – cloud people adventures recently posted..Snorkeling with Turtles Near Tulum
Yes, it was very exciting! We have gotten a few yeses since then too!
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
Very nice! I think I will try to do it now with Mexico
Thanks for these tips. I have been dying to take another trip and I might use this approach soon. I’m cooking a meal for every country in the world and spend a week on each country – with a press trip, I can spend a week at the country talking about the real experiences! How great that would be…
Sasha @ Global Table Adventure recently posted..Monday Meal Review- El Salvador
Hi Sasha, I love the concept of your site. My wife contributes recipes to my site and they are often some of the highest viewed posts from searches. I guess everyone loves food
This is true
As for me, I love getting new ideas. Seems like we eat many of the same things around the world, just in different applications/combinations. Like cinnamon is for sweets here, in the US, but not in the Middle East and India etc.
Sasha @ Global Table Adventure recently posted..Monday Meal Review- El Salvador
I agree, that is a great idea! I’m going to start following your journey, Sasha!
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
What a great post! I can definitely always use tips like these. Scoring a press trip would be awesome, but I’d also just settle for discounts along the way.
This summer, my sister and I are planning a big road trip across the US, and I’d really like to try to approach some hotels and/or B&Bs along the way to see if we can work anything out. Accommodation is probably going to be our biggest expense, and it would be great if we didn’t have to stress about it!
Have any of you ever heard of a hotel chain “sponsoring” a trip before or anything?
DangerousBiz recently posted..Under the Sea- Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay- Hawaii
I was wondering about that myself, Amanda. I don’t approach the big hotel chains because I figure they already get a lot of publicity, but it can’t hurt to give it a try. Let us know if you do!
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Alis Surf Camp Review – Dominican Republic 9
Very nice. Love the suggestion of asking for a media rate. Will try this for upcoming trips.
Charles McCool recently posted..Do You LOVE Travel Deals
I’ve been on heaps of free trips and tours throughout New Zealand and I find it’s simply a mater of being genuine and explaining what you can offer the company in return for a free / discounted trip. Ask yourself, ‘what does ‘x’ company have to gain’ and write an email clearly addressing those points.
Matt recently posted..Pizza in Naples- The Heavyweight Round
There are some terrific tips in here – and great info in the comments section.
My experience with small hotels that I have approached is that they are happy to offer a discount in return for a blog – though I’m very upfront about it being an honest review. I’m also finding that smaller hotels and companies really have no understanding yet of what a blog is. It’s still a foreign word out there.
And I use the term media rate too. That definitely helps.
I can understand people’s confusion over what a blog is. Even when people do know they tend to associate blogs with online journals.
Hi guys, we wanted to jump in this conversation too. We read all these posts with interest and definitely want to take part in the challenge, just haven’t gotten round to it quite yet. The posts are super, and Christy, this is a great topic for travel bloggers (although, I agree with Todd, too, it seems better to say editor/writer than blogger nowadays, doesn’t it?).
I used to be a travel PR for a visitor’s bureau for a few years. In the scramble to master the online market, there is a major trend for visitor’s bureaus to focus on online PR. They are running blogger trips, are focusing on twitter, facebook, and creating iPhone apps. As budgets for just about everything in travel decrease, Online PR and Marketing remains strong because of the international and targeted niche reach of the internet readership. As long as you are professional, have your press pack together and are very clear on the type of stories you are looking to write, you’ll find a lot of willingness to help sponsor part of your trip, set up interviews, acquire media rates on things like car rental, trains, hotels and attractions. That is what the PR budget is there for! Flights are almost never paid for, unless the visitor’s bureau is targeting media from a specific country. If they want to bring over 10 journalists/bloggers from the US at once, they’ll pay for flights, but if it is not related to a specific campaign, it’s a rarity (so congrats on that score Christy
) In short, it is definitely possible for good travel blogs, erm, sites to score press trips, as long as it is a win-win situation for both parties. Good luck everyone!
Thanks for the PR perspective and I’m looking forward to you joining the challenge
what do you think at the must have elements to a a good press pack? Also, it is really interesting to hear what journalist say about “press trips.” From their perspectives these are not really for the “press” as they contain discounts or comps and thus real press would not use them. My friends see these as specifically targeted towards bloggers who are able to play by different rules (ie accept swag).
Hi Todd….Travel press definitely go on press trips. Real journalists, if you want to say this, take comps, discounts and media rates of all kinds. Print publications have super limited budgets, and long gone are the days where the paper would cover the whole trip. Many journalists are now freelancers. Papers and magazines had to make a decision whether to retain staff or hire freelancers only. Many go with trusted freelancers only, and this means that they are buying the story, not paying the writer. That said, a story, even in a national paper or magazine, doesn’t go for a very high rate, and definitely does not even begin to cover the cost of the trip, much less make a profit. You use the name of the publication and circulation (number of readers) to show the PR people the value of comping or getting discounts on their products. It’s done the same way as we as travel bloggers (cringe, using that word again) would do it. So in reality, there isn’t much difference to PRs anymore between print publication and the travel websites we run, given your site is credible with high readership stats. Print publications and very well known online publications will still be preferred, but they are also much larger publications with more credibility, so that’s fair. But as long-term travelers, we are in the location already, we have a targeted audience, and we use our readership numbers and internet ‘reach’ to show companies the value of getting the word out with us, as much as a travel publication does. The difference is that with print or non-travel-blog sites, the numbers might still be much higher, but as travel bloggers (sorry…no other word) our readership is actually much more dedicated, at least in my opinion.
As for the press pack, we are just putting ours together as we speak, so I’d feel better not pretending to be a super professional on this one. I’d say a clear About Us page, Circulation (subscribers, Google PR rank, Alexa Rank, FB friends, Twitter followers and your page stats), target demographic (adventure travel, over 50 male foodies, women 25-34 in India, whatever), a few relevant images, maybe past press coverage, a fact sheet, anything you think supports your business/blog.
phew, that was practically a post. Guess we better join up with the challenge now, pressure is on!
Globetrottergirls recently posted..Hotel Tip of the Week- Entre Piedras- El Salvador
That’s a great tips and keep track of your google stats are a great way to get start.
Great tips Christy! I’m looking to get into this in the next couple of months, but wasn’t sure how to get started so will definitely be referring back to this. I also like how you look for a win-win, not just for freebies, it has to be beneficial for both parties.
Laurel recently posted..5 Fun Language Learning Techniques
Wow, what an incredibly helpful post and the comments are equally as helpful!
andi recently posted..Meet My Fiance- Lucas
Have always wanted to try this. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks Christy, it’s great to get some insider tips on how to best use your blog to your advantage.
Ken Kaminesky recently posted..My National Geographic Cover Photo – Notre Dame de Paris
This may be a question for the forum but how many people follow PR people on Twitter? I know I have some following me because I tend to avoid them. Does this hurt me or should I make more of an effort to engage with PR folks for purposes of things like this? Is it mutually beneficial (aside from reading each other’s tweets)?
Jeremy B recently posted..Travel Tuesday question of the week – what’s your most embarrassing travel moment
I don’t have a definitive answer to that one, Jeremy. I can’t see how you not following them would really hurt your chances of getting a press trip. I haven’t engaged with any PR reps on Twitter, but who knows, I may be missing out on some opportunities.
Christy @ Ordinary Traveler recently posted..Photo of the Week- Light at the End of a Prison Cell 13
Thanks Christy and Scott! Very Helpful. I used a similar approach where I contacted the company stating my stats, and my intention as a travel writer (didn’t use the word blog at first since not all companies understand the value of blogs, yet), and that I was going on a press trip and was highly interested in featuring them as part of my trip. I got a discounted rate on their tour.
Eventually I followed up with them after I published the post. They were very happy with it and it left me the doors open to return in the near future for any other of their tours I could be interested in.
The key is to ask and be professional in your approach and in the relationship you intend to build with them.
Norbert recently posted..7 Reasons Why You Should Visit Peru
Some great ideas here. i will be using these in the future and I will let you know how I go. We have done some work with hotels. I have found it is a bit hit an miss.
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