Hospitality PR firms support hotels and those industries that support hotel functions such as florists, caterers and travel agencies. The art of public relations is designed to bring positive coverage of the client and let people know about upcoming activities in an upbeat way. You want to hire a firm experienced in hotel public relations with values and priorities similar to you as the client. Public relations agencies for hospitality advice and ratings can come from various sources and must be researched carefully to apply the findings appropriately.

Public relations in hospitality requires visiting hotels, going on cruises, flying commercial as a tourist, eating at restaurants and hotels and then communicating about those experiences to the travel media in a way that casts the client's business in a positive light. Hospitality industry public relations can be glamorous, but mostly it requires hustle, creativity and hard work.

1. Learn about hospitality industry public relations and think about how that field can help you or your business.

2. Public relations agencies for hospitality advice and ratings can help you decide which elements of hospitality PR agencies make sense for you.

3. Review the rankings and ratings of both hotel public relations firms and hospitality public relations agencies.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look for reviews of public relations agencies for hospitality advice and ratings

There are many ways to rate an agency that supports public relations in hospitality. The public relations field is more art than science, so ratings tend to be subjective.

I recommend: The About Public Relations website ranks hundreds of PR agencies in responsiveness, employee relations, professionalism and many other criteria. This would be a good first reference for selecting a hospitality PR agency in your area. For hotel-specific public relations, the Hotel Executive website offers agency reviews along with tips for public relations in hotels.

Decide on which areas of hospitality PR you want to specialize and emphasize

There is more to hospitality PR than hotels. Even if you own or run a hotel, you probably work closely with caterers, cruise lines, transportation companies, travel agencies and florists. Only the biggest companies do everything, most have to specialize.

I recommend: The Cruise Line International Association has compiled a list of resources in many disciplines, including public relations firms that support cruise lines and the hospitality industry. The site also offers many communications-related work samples. O'Dwyer PR lists and ranks the major travel-industry PR firms which is very helpful in selecting hospitality PR companies, no matter in which you decide to specialize.

Know some of the reputations developed by hospitality PR agencies

In a subjective field like public relations, the reputation carried by firms means a lot. Even when you're dealing mostly in the realm of ideas, you need to know that your hospitality PR agency will execute the plan and will follow through with the hospitality media.

I recommend: At All Marketing Matchup you can learn how to judge a hospitality PR agency's reputation, work performance, strengths and weaknesses. This article will be very helpful in your agency review process.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Ask around and get the opinions of industry peers and colleagues regarding hospitality PR agencies. Others' opinions can be invaluable if you personally trust their judgement.

Public relations agencies for hospitality provide creative, cost-effective solutions for hotels and resorts seeking to increase visibility and profitability. Hospitality industry public relations firms utilize the media to generate awareness about industry businesses, providing credible, third-party media endorsements.

Unless your hotel or resort is overflowing with guests every night of the year, your business should hire hospitality PR agencies. In the hospitality industry, reputation and image are a hotel’s biggest assets. Public relations agencies for hospitality will provide the experience, skills and resources to increase awareness of your company’s public image, ultimately increasing your business revenue.

When selecting hospitality public relations firms, research each agency and evaluate the following:

1. Do the public relations firms have experience in your industry?
   
2. What services do the hospitality PR agencies offer?
3. What type of rapport do I have with the hospitality PR firms?
4. How much will my business pay for public relations agencies for hospitality?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose a public relations firm that specializes in the hospitality industry

Select hospitality public relations firms who understand your industry and have relationships with local and national media contacts relevant to the hospitality industry. Ask to see a list of past and present clients, and request references.

I recommend: MFC PR specializes in public relations programs for clients in the travel and hospitality industries. The Fiske Group is a boutique public relations firm with exclusive resorts and spas on its client list. Magellan PR provides public relations services for hotels around the world, including England, Mexico, Portugal and Thailand.

Hire hospitality PR firms with proven writing, pitching and event planning skills

Review the writing and pitching skills of public relations firms for hospitality. Ask for writing samples, including press releases and bylined articles in national magazines. Evaluate the hospitality PR agencies' ability to organize creative events and special promotions to engage the media.

I recommend: Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations offers online case studies of hospitality clients. KWE Group also offers online case studies focused on relevant hospitality PR issues, like rebuilding a tourism destination and generating off season sales. InterStar provides an online portfolio including advertising, collateral materials, logos, newsletters and annual reports.

Select hospitality public relations agencies with whom you have good rapport

Evaluate the relationships with employees from the public relations agencies for hospitality. Find out who will be working on your account and speak candidly with each person. It is important to feel comfortable collaborating with each person working on your hospitality public relations account team.

I recommend: InterStar offers an online staff directory with links to bio information. IMS-21 places an emphasis on customer contact as part of its hospitality public relations services.

Hire public relations agencies for hospitality that meet your budget

The majority of hospitality PR companies operate on a monthly retainer with a minimum time commitment, which is usually three months. Your business cost depends on the project scope and manpower required. When evaluating hospitality public relations firms' fees, factor in the return on investment for your business.

I recommend: KWE Group offers the option of retainer or project billing based on hourly fees, and will even help you determine which option is best suited to your budget. IMS-21 cites several examples of increased revenues for their hospitality clients, including growing a motel’s off-season business 200% in one season.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Be suspicious of hotel public relations firms that make big promises. Reputable hotel public relations agencies won't guarantee specific results, but they will share success stories of similar clients and provide your hotel or resort with a creative public relations proposal.

If your company is in the hospitality industry, you may want to seek out hospitality PR firms. These firms employ experts in promoting hotels, travel agencies and other organizations that deal in tourism.

Working with public relations agencies for hospitality is somewhat different than working with a generic marketing company. Some things to think about are:

1. How to find an public relations agency that understands your specific area of hospitality;

2. What kinds of print marketing you need to use for your hospitality public relations;

3. If you'd like to look at hospitality agencies specializing in e-business and online strategies.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find hospitality public relations firms appropriate for your business

Just like hotels themselves, hotel public relations firms run the whole spectrum of locations and budgets. That means they are definitely not one size fits all. You have to do some searching to find the right one.

I recommend: Visit two prominent marketing indexes to get an idea of the agencies that are out there, how they're alike and how they're different. These indexes belong to MultiView and Salesvantage.

Work with hospitality PR agencies to create targeted print marketing pieces

Since hotels get a lot of business through print marketing, such as brochures, magazine and yellow pages ads and posters, it's important to use these as part of your PR in hospitality. Think about where you draw your customers from (airports? convention centers? train stations? rest areas?) and have your agency help you come up with ideas on how to best reach them.

I recommend: Check out the websites of two prominent hospitality PR agencies that do a lot of work in print marketing: Posner Advertising and Incite Response. Even if you don't work with these agencies, you can use some of their portfolio examples to help you brainstorm with your firm.

Work with hospitality PR firms to market your business online

These days, the web is paramount for public relations in hospitality. A lot of people look online to find hotels and otherwise plan their vacations, so you've got to make sure your website portrays your business in the best possible light.

I recommend: Work with a PR firm with experience in hotel websites. There are plenty to choose from. TIG Global can help you with not only your website but also SEO and targeted email marketing. If you're really proud of your print materials, and you'd like to save some money, try a company like New Media Gateway. It advertises that it can convert your print items into an electronic format for your website, DVDs and more. The more current your materials are, the more modern potential customers will perceive your hotel to be.

In the course of developing a hospitality business, whether it is a hotel, motel or food service establishment, or other type of shop, business leaders may need to partner with public relations agencies to get business going. Some may think of PR agencies as companies to call during a really bad crisis, when an unfortunate event has customers detouring around a business, but in fact, there are a wide number of reasons to sign on with PR firms. Reading about some of the basic key terms involved may help businesses see how PR firms can help a hospitality business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pitching

Pitching is the process of getting a message out to the public, and to any parties that can help spread that message. Pitching is critical for any PR work: in hospitality businesses, it can be focused on spreading a positive idea about a facility or franchise.

I recommend: See more on pitching at 101PublicRelations.com.

Return on investment

A return on investment or ROI represents the financial benefit a hospitality business can expect from the eventual customer base resulting from a PR campaign. This can be hard to measure, but often, managers use their own creative strategies to keep an eye on ROI, and promptly cut any ad campaign that does not seem to be pulling its weight.

I recommend: See more on ROI for PR in hospitality businesses at this guide from John Boroshok: Journalist for Hire.

Online marketing

Online marketing can be a powerful piece of a PR campaign for a hotel or other hospitality business. See if PR firms have experience and depth in online marketing strategy.

I recommend: See more on aspects of hiring a PR agency for online marketing at this Search Engine Guide page.

Council of Public Relations Firms

The Council of Public Relations Firms was formed in 1998 to give more insight into the industry. Hospitality businesses looking for public relations agencies can look to this group for professional and accurate information about what's going on in the industry.

I recommend: See more on the Council of Public Relations Firms at their website.

Brand building

One thing that a public relations agencies might do is to help build a brand, which means promoting the name, trademark and reputation of a hospitality business or a chain of hospitality businesses.

I recommend: Check out details on the process of building a brand at Tutor2U. For an example of an agency committed to brand building for hospitalities, check out Food/Shelter.

Media placement

Another element of working with a public relations agencies can be media placement, which is getting a message out through various media venues. For hotels and hospitalities, this can mean leveraging an event or just plugging away at a consumer base through a devised set of spot promotions.

I recommend: See more on media placement at My Ad Base.