Making the most of media and PR opportunities can provide a free or low-cost way to promote your business.
Generating media and publicity for a business can be achieved through media releases, press conferences, newsletters (print and online), events, blogs, industry famils, visiting journalist programs and social media.
Apart from promoting your tourism product, the benefits include:
- Increased traffic to your website
- Better brand recognition
- Great way to gain credibility within the industry and set yourself up as an ‘expert’
- Improved search engine optimisation (SEO).
Tourism Australia’s Making a Splash: Generating Publicity for Australia is an excellent practical guide on working with the media and generating publicity for tourism business.
Voyeur is Virgin Australia’s inflight magazine published by Pacific Magazines.
Hardie Grant Media is the official publisher and advertising sales agency for Jetstar Airways. The webpage has a comprehensive media kit and a contact who can help you with enquiries about editorial, advertising in the Jetstar magazine, digital advertising, in-flight and ambient advertising.
Tourism Tasmania’s Visiting Influencer Program (VIP) brings carefully selected media from our national and international markets to Tasmania to experience our tourism products firsthand and in turn create high quality editorial.
Hosting media through the VIP is a very cost-effective marketing tool for your business. Editorial is seen as more credible and reliable than advertising; it reinforces advertising messages and adds the ‘proof ’ of the advertising claims and the validation consumers often need to turn their interest into action. Businesses that participate in the Visiting Influencer Program often see significant coverage of their product and subsequent increased business.
To participate in the program, you must be prepared to offer your product free of charge or at a significantly discounted rate depending on your assessment of the opportunity presented. Note that accredited operators receive preferred status for opportunities generated by this program. Email the Tourism Tasmania Media Relations Coordinator media@tourism.tas.gov.au or telephone 03 616 55273.
Essentials is Tourism Australia’s weekly newsletter that keeps international media informed on what’s new and trending in Australia, from tourism experiences and accommodation, to new restaurants and events.
The newsletter, read by over 4000 media and industry stakeholders around the world, is a tool to assist international journalists with content ideas and keep Australia top of mind.
The deadline for Australian Stories is 5PM Tuesday each week, and the newsletter is distributed each Thursday. You can subscribe to Australian Stories and other Tourism Australia news here, and if you have a story idea that you would like to put forward for the newsletter, or Tourism Australia’s other media relations programs, you can send your information and an image to: internationalmedia@tourism.australia.com.
Aussie Specialist Program (ASP) is Tourism Australia’s global online program, shared by all eight state and territory tourism partners and designed to provide front-line travel sellers from around the globe with the knowledge and skills to best sell Australia. Tourism Australia maintains active relationships with qualified Aussie Specialists through the website, e-newsletters, trade events and familiarisation trips to Australia. There are a number of marketing opportunities for Australian Tourism suppliers to get involved with the Aussie Specialist Program including:
- Entice Aussie Specialists to try your product and visit your region the next time they are in Australia by offering an industry rate on travel, tours, accommodation and attractions. All Aussie Specialists gain entry to the Travel Club once fully qualified which provides access to these special industry rates.
- Educate Aussie Specialists about your product by creating a short two-minute video introducing yourself and your product, explaining the product location and key selling points which outline how Aussie Specialists can sell your product to their clients. These can either be created professionally or for free via an iPhone.
- Training events for Aussie Specialists are held overseas and in Australia and provide you with the opportunity to promote your product face-to-face with Aussie Specialists. These events are promoted on Tourism Australia’s Trade Events website and in Tourism Australia’s weekly online newsletter, Essentials.
For more info, contact your Industry Relations Manager: VIC, TAS, SA, WA: Kristy Carstairs kcarstairs@tourism.australia.com .
Social media
To fully understand and make the most of the huge opportunities for tourism businesses through social media, see the Tasmanian Digital Ready and Australian Tourism E-Kit programs detailed above.
Tourism Australia’s Social Media Program creates stimulating conversations about Australia through key platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To help generate content and get involved, see their Tips & Links info.
At DST, we also look for great content from the region for our ‘Hobart & Beyond’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter social media channels. Simply add the #hobartandbeyond hashtag to your Instagram posts or tag @hobartandbeyond.
To send material and find out more, contact DST.
