Travel PR: getting ahead of the big summer getaway
From crisis comms strategies to sustainability questions, how can PR practitioners prepare for travel and tourism’s peak season?
This year's travel trade shows, Internationale Tourismus-Börse (ITB Berlin) and the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), held in Dubai, set new show records for visitor numbers, drawing a combined visitor number of 146,000 travel and tourism professionals.
Research published by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and the Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that business and leisure travel will be back this year and for the most popular destinations visitor numbers are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
As one of the biggest sectors in the global economy, it is widely acknowledged that tourism is a key driver of economic recovery and growth. It was, however, an industry severely impacted by the pandemic and it is not immune to the ongoing macroeconomic, geopolitical and environmental issues across the globe.
Travel remains in the spotlight and there are some caveats. Tourism contributes a tenth of greenhouse gas emissions, with transport-related emissions from international tourism expected to grow as a proportion in the short to medium term, without significant developments in technology. Tourists are increasingly wanting to travel more responsibly. Sustainability, safety and security are becoming key factors in their decision-making when choosing a trip.
As the travel and tourism industry looks to the upcoming peak season, there are several considerations for communications practitioners. We can act as a catalyst and help support traveller decision-making and at the same time, build resiliency to ready our organisations:
Sustainability communications
Climate change is here. Severe weather conditions are occurring more often, leading to greater operational disruption, a predicted increase in clear air turbulence and the frequent evacuation of tourists due to fire or floods. Sustainability communications are now about what your organisation is doing to mitigate the effects of climate change, as well as communicating your path to net zero. If sustainability is absent from your communications strategies and plans, then there is a risk that you will be exposed.
Issues management
To manage the implications of climate change on your business, the scenarios need to be mapped out. There is no scenario that could impact business continuity that you cannot identify. Work with colleagues across the business to plan for these organisational risks. You can prioritise the issues to make the workloads manageable, working through them over time.
Simulations
There is no point in having a crisis communications manual sitting on your shelf that is only tested in line with regulatory requirements. If you do, when you come to use it, you will not be familiar enough with the actions that will need to be taken. Let the tasks become second nature by making the workflows part of your everyday communications activities. This will also allow your team members to gain confidence and take away the fear. Refine the processes and procedures through frequent simulations.
Plan ahead of time and be prepared
All internal, external and social communications must be written beforehand. This is why you need to understand all the scenarios. You will need to edit the communications within the context of the issue you are managing as well as add specific details, but it is not possible to draft them from scratch at the time they will need to be issued. This will also allow you to get the necessary internal approvals and discuss the communications with colleagues ahead of time so that they have full visibility of the actions you will take and can give you their full support.
For communications practitioners who would like to have a quiet and enjoyable summer a final piece of advice to enable you to protect your organisation's reputation in both good and bad times: do not be tempted to use the excuse that an issue is unlikely to occur as a reason why not to start your planning and preparation because it will. One thing you can be certain of is that it will happen on a Friday at 6 pm on the busiest travel day of the year!
Mike Evans and Elizabeth Maclean are co-managing directors of Herdwick Communications.