Hospitality and Public Relations

Clay de Souza

Hospitality-The Hilton Way

The Travel industries( Hospitality , Restaurant, Leisure) have weathered several storms

throughout the past decade with all of the economic downturns, especially the most recent Great

Recession. 1 A lot of this can be attributed to Brand Recognition which has been said to helped to

Hotels survive economic downturns. 2 A team of international researchers have said that Brand

name entities make out better than independent entities during tough economic times. This is in

large part due to good public relations. The true test of brand strength and fortitude is discovered

during downturns.

Sales, marketing and advertising budgets get cut from even locations with business

travelers. The ones who rise up from the economic downturn ashes are the ones that have utilized

a good public relations plans that aim to create awareness and drive sales. Creatively industrious

public relations is more than just putting out a press release talking about a weekend getaway.

PR( Public Relations ) is really more than an art or science, it is about the bottom line. PR is

ultimately, even during down times, measured by the bottom line. Does your pr result in your

property having media coverage? How does a PR plan go about earning certain coverage?

These steps and tips can help maximize ROI from PR : Set realistic goals and objectives,

Know where to find your audience, know your company and subject matter, pitch to the right

reporter, make it relevant-make it newsworthy, Be Honest Skip the Hype, and avoid

embarrassing oversights; Public vs private-size matter, rapid response, always include contact

information, easy online access to information. There are so many reasons and facets to engage

1 "Center for Hospitality Research."CHR Reports RSS. Web. 09 Oct. 2014. <https://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-15220.html>.2 "Brand Recognition Can Help Hotels Survive Economic Downturns." Brand Recognition Can Help Hotels Survive Economic Downturns. Web. 09 Oct. 2014. <http://www.hhd.psu.edu/news/2010/12_7_10_restaurant_brands.html>.

in Public Relations. One has to determine what’s going on and what’s going on and what

objectives measures of achievement will be. It really at the end of the day is simple target

marketing. The best place for a hotel to earn their coverage is simply wherever their target

audience is. The italicized points are apart of my planned proposal that I intend to send to the

Public Relations Society of America for their Travel and Tourism.I also intend on using a

powerpoint presentation to further explain all of my findings that I have between the correlation

of Hospitality and Public Relations. I am allowed to have between 45-50 slides as far as I read in

the submission guidelines.

From a person standpoint, where I am at right now at the the Hampton Inn and Suites in

Burlington, are sales, marketing and PR is conducted by our Sales Manager Wes Collins. Wes is

in charge of both properties of the Hampton Inns in both Burlington and Mebane, North

Carolina. His average days are spent making calls, emails to local businesses throughout

Alamance County. He averages 20-50 calls a day and he is constantly talking to local business

owners regarding securing “group rates” at the hotels at a discounted rate compared to the

average daily “rack bar”(as it is coded in our reservations’ system) rate. He often attends

Chamber of Commerce meetings ever so often to recruit new interests with prospective new

partners. We, at the Front Desk, have a red binder full of corporate codes and rates. The vast

majority of our business is filled with business travelers and other visiting groups such as

representatives from different colleges and universities.We even have a lot of out-of-state

visiting business men and women staying at our location. We have our own form of marketing

and PR in the form of word-of-mouth and more notably tripadvisor. Our Trip Advisor ratings are

so high that it keeps guests coming back again and again. There are some guests I know on a first

name basis now. This is much appreciated on our end as our operating buget our General

Manager keeps saying is very ‘little’.

Modern-day hotel pr comprises of activities that include press relations, special events

planning, targeted outreach for focused editorial coverage, organization of press familiarization

trips (so that travel writers can experience your venue first hand), newsletters, community

relations, and philanthropy.3 I would say given our limited service hotel location property we

handle our Public Relations quite well.

3 Lanz, Leora H., and Barbara Fischhof. "How Does Public Relations Fit into a Hotel's Marketing Plan?" HVS -. HVS, 08 Mar. 2004. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Bibliography

"Brand Recognition Can Help Hotels Survive Economic Downturns." Brand Recognition

Can Help Hotels Survive Economic Downturns. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.

<http://www.hhd.psu.edu/news/2010/12_7_10_restaurant_brands.html>.

"Center for Hospitality Research." CHR Reports RSS. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.

<https://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-15220.html>.

Lanz, Leora H., and Barbara Fischhof. "How Does Public Relations Fit into a Hotel's

Marketing Plan?" HVS -. HVS, 08 Mar. 2004. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.