The world is filled with hundreds of destinations, thousands of hotels, and even more attractions. Convincing a traveler to choose one over the other boils down to the power of public relations. If the tourism PR is done well, a previously unpopular destination can become a hotspot, a hotel can sell out, and a new attraction can become a must-see. But what are the strategies?
Quick Answer
Tourism PR is the practice of building a travel company's visibility and reputation through earned media, partnerships, and social proof rather than paid advertising alone. Done well, it can turn an overlooked destination into a must-visit one, a quiet hotel into a sold-out one, and a new attraction into a must-see.
What is the goal of tourism PR?
Booking travel has changed drastically over the past couple of decades. In that period, we’ve gone from calling up airlines and getting paper tickets or using a travel agent to seeing a wanderlust Instagram post and booking an entire adventure online. This ease of booking and planning is incredible for travelers and travel companies alike. But, with that ease comes significant competition as the internet is now saturated with options.
Tourism PR aims to help travel companies stand out from the crowd by ensuring diversification of exposure.
6 PR Strategies for Travel Companies
There are many strategies that we utilize in PR that can vary across clients. But, when it comes to tourism PR, there are six key ways to increase recognition.
1. Do Your Research
Before deciding where to focus your attention, you should consider the travel company’s current perception. Reach out to travel industry insiders and contacts to learn how they perceive the business. For example, find out what it’s known for if it’s a destination. This provides valuable insight into where you can lean into the locale’s strengths, but it can also shed light on opportunities to highlight details that travelers might need to learn about. The same applies to nearly any travel company—hotel, cruise, etc. You need to know where you stand to make a strategic move going forward.
2. Carve Out a Few Niches
Once you have that research, you can determine how the travel company should be positioned. It’s impossible to be all things to all people. Instead, choosing a few niches that set the company apart is better. This helps stand out among the crowd as you can then target audiences that would appreciate those niches. For example, a travel company with a wellness focus won’t necessarily want to waste effort on a college spring break traveler. While it might seem like casting a wide net will mean more business, focusing on highlighting select details will mean a more engaged traveler. And they’re likely to run in circles with similar interests, so the message will naturally spread.
Also, defining those niche offerings is more appealing to media outlets as they need to know why they should be writing about one travel company over another. If you can own a more specific market, it makes it more appealing as a writing topic. The same logic holds well beyond travel — B2B brands trying to stand out in crowded categories rely on that same kind of focused positioning to earn coverage.
3. Create Partnerships
Creating partnerships will raise awareness of a hospitality destination, hotel, brand, etc. For example, if the travel company has a wellness focus, it may partner with an athletic apparel brand. This allows for a crossover of audiences we know have similar interests. It also can elevate both brands as the partnerships insinuate a stamp of approval giving more validity and gravitas to both.
You can also look at partnerships that make experiencing the travel company easier. For example, a hotel could partner with an airline to create an easy-to-book package. There are various ways to tackle partnerships, but it should always be part of your tourism PR strategy.
4. Utilize Social Media
It’s undeniable that social media is a powerful tool for any PR. That’s especially true for tourism PR. Travelers will book an entire trip based on a photo they saw on Instagram. So, a travel company must utilize social media as a PR tool. Ensure you have excellent photography; invite target influencers to experience the company firsthand and post about it; and have ways for travelers to engage via hashtags, contests, and more. All of this will amplify the company beyond traditional media and advertising. That’s only expanded since; short-form video and traveler-generated content now do as much to sell a destination as a polished photo once did, so a strong tourism PR strategy needs a plan for both.
5. Target Specific Media Outlets
As explained above, a travel company can only attract some. So, just as you should be carving out niche differentiators, you should also target specific media outlets and reporters. For example, a reporter that covers hospitality business news won’t write about a new design element. That would be better suited for a design-focused outlet. There may be a business angle, but identify those various angles and target the proper outlets/reporters that beat. What’s great about this targeted approach is that it actually creates more opportunities for coverage on a single travel company. The same principle holds across multiple industries — a reporter covering hospital systems isn’t the right fit for a story about law firms or cybersecurity vendors, each of which needs its own targeted media list.
6. Show Up Where Travelers Are Researching
Trip planning increasingly starts with AI rather than a search bar. In IMG’s 2026 Travel Outlook Survey, a third of travelers said they’re likely to use AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot to help plan a trip this year — most often for recommendations and itinerary ideas rather than the booking itself. That means the destinations, hotels, and tour operators showing up in those AI answers are earning consideration before a traveler ever reaches a booking site.
This is the same shift the rest of the industry is grappling with: earned coverage and mentions carry more weight with AI systems than owned marketing content does, and it’s part of why earned media is quickly becoming core infrastructure for discovery in every industry, not just travel.
Tourism PR Turns Visibility Into Bookings
Overall, smart tourism PR strategizing can revolutionize the way a travel company is perceived and affect its bottom line, with travelers choosing to book with them over another company in a very crowded market. It all starts with taking the time to understand where you stand and what makes you different. From there, it’s a matter of utilizing the right tools, such as social media and partnerships, to get in front of those that care most. Finally, don’t forget to target specific media outlets for the best chance at success. Do all this, and a travel company will see the fruits of their PR labor. Increasingly, that also means showing up in the AI tools travelers turn to first. The same earned visibility that wins over journalists and partners is what gets a destination recommended by an AI assistant, too.
If you’re a travel company looking to break into the media, get in touch with Pace PR to discuss your goals!
Frequently Asked Questions
How is tourism PR different from travel marketing?
Travel marketing sells a specific trip, rate, or package and is built to convert a browser into a booking. Tourism PR earns the third-party credibility that makes a traveler trust a destination before they start comparing prices at all, which is why PR builds lasting trust in a way paid campaigns rarely do on their own. The two are complementary, not competing.
Do small or boutique travel brands need PR?
Often they need it more than the large ones. A regional boutique hotel or a small tour operator can't outspend a major chain's ad budget, but a single well-placed story in the right outlet can put them in front of exactly the travelers who'd love what they offer. Smaller brands also tend to have a sharper niche, which is actually an advantage in earning coverage. There's PR built for smaller budgets that still delivers real, targeted visibility without an enterprise-size retainer.
How long before tourism PR shows results?
This is one of the most common questions travel brands ask, and the honest answer depends on what “results” means. Media relationships and reputation typically take a few months to build momentum, though a single strong media placement, partnership, or influencer trip can create a visible spike in interest almost immediately. Understanding the typical PR timeline upfront helps set the right expectations instead of judging a campaign too early or too late.
Does social media replace the need for PR in travel?
No. The two depend on each other more than ever. A traveler might discover a destination through Instagram, but they'll often still look for validation from a press mention or a trusted publication before booking. That validation is built on earned media coverage a brand doesn't control or pay for directly, which is exactly why it carries more weight than a sponsored post.
Should a travel brand handle PR in-house or hire an agency?
It depends on scale and existing media relationships. A larger destination or hospitality group with dedicated communications staff might manage some PR internally, but building genuine relationships with travel journalists and producers takes years, not a single hire. Most travel brands find that weighing in-house versus agency PR comes down to how quickly they need results and how deep their existing media contacts already run.
How do we measure whether tourism PR is working?
Bookings are the ultimate goal, but they're a lagging indicator. A placement today might not show up in the bottom line for months. Better near-term signals include earned media impressions, referral traffic from press mentions, direct traffic spikes after a placement runs, and share of voice against competing destinations. Knowing how to measure PR results properly keeps a campaign accountable without expecting every story to convert overnight.