The opening chapter explains the recent growth of industry PR, and travel & tourism news coverage which today focuses on the considerable economic benefits of the industry. Additionally, it reviews the leading news media that covers the industry, the primary PR tools and audiences, and details the factors leading to PR's new prominence across the industry. It also provides informative sidebars with lists of key industry print media, top travel agencies, plus a Travel Industry Association of America case study of a post-9/11/2001 campaign to restore American confidence in travelling. It also includes a composite definition of PR, and tells how PR is a discipline distinctively different from publicity, propaganda, advertising, and marketing. The author notes how, over the past decade due to economic conditions, PR in many cases has been integrated with marketing communications and played an important role in both strategic and tactical marketing activities. Following this overview, the ensuing five chapters examine communications model specifics that are of special importance to the industry's major sectors: hotels/lodging establishments; restaurants; tourist attractions/destinations; and transportation services. Each of these sectors have their own special messages, PR tools, and audiences. For example, meeting planners and travel agents are of most importance to hotels, while travel agents are of little importance to airlines and restaurants. Also included is a chapter about what travel employers should understand about PR The chapters will be followed by appendices that will include: The top 30 U.S. Travel & Tourism Professional/Trade Associations; and the Leading U.S. Travel & Tourism Universities.

Veteran travel writer Jacqueline Harmon Butler shows readers, one step at a time, how to research, write, and sell travel articles--but most importantly, she details what makes a travel article a winner. In this new edition, Butler updates her bestselling handbook for the 21st century with helpful tips on conducting Internet research, utilizing new advancements in digital photography and finding helpful applications on mobile phones. She also helps aspiring writers navigate the changing world of publishing by exploring blogging, new travel websites, and social media, all while discussing how best to expand your platform. She includes a brand new introduction to reflect the current state of the travel industry and the change in editors' needs. Butler covers all the nuts and bolts aspects of travel writing from pre-trip research, specific marketing strategies, and even includes 12 formats for travel articles with sure-fire appeal to editors and readers. She gives insightful and often humorous advice on pre- and post-trip topics like: • How to target your market before you begin • How to save time by doing background research before you leave • How to write queries and get assignments in advance • How to find new angles for overworked subjects • What to take along--from video equipment and laptops to travel documents • How to set up and conduct successful interviews • How to take advantage of freebies and junkets without “selling out” • How to sell what you write--and then sell it again