First Steps to Working with Hotels and Tourism Boards
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Get A Media Kit
What to know when working with tourism boards
Finding Tourism Boards to Work With
Honestly this is the easiest part. I simply look up the city and search the keywords tourism or visit. So if I wanted to work with NYC, I would look up “Visit NYC” and go to their contact page and look for the marketing contact.
Finding Hotels
When it comes to hotels, I have reached out in 3 different ways. Sometimes its as easy as Googling xxx hotel and looking for the marketing contact. A lot of times I find that hotels have a PR firm who handle the relationships, and so I reach out to the PR firm. And if it’s a huge hotel, for instance Marriott, there is often a media request form right on their page.
How to Pitch
Hello xxx,
My name is Jessica and I am the Content Creator of My Curly Adventures, a travel and lifestyle brand. I love (certain aesthetic, unique feature, etc. Basically throw in lots of compliments).
I am heading to xxx city these days to write about the best things to do, and to explore the hidden gems. I was reaching out because I would like to plan a media visit and wanted to see if there were opportunities to partner together. You can see one of my recent CVB collaborations here (or if this is your first time say “a recent trip I covered”). I’ve also attached my media kit below for your review. Looking forward to hearing from you.
From there all the juice is in my media kit. It shows what I have provided for past collaborations, photos I’ve taken, and results of the collaboration.
A Little Extra
I also wanted to share a pitching tactic that was extremely successful for me and helped build my authority/prove I wasn’t just looking for a free trip. Rather than just going to random destinations, I started a Texas Travel Series. This helped me become a Texas expert as well as gain media coverage. It made travel guides more intentional, gained me a local audience, and gave boards and hotels something to be excited about.
Additionally, now that I have dozens of Texas city guides, I have content that can be re-purposed for years (top budget friendly destinations in Texas, romantic destinations, spring destinations, the list goes on). Boards will appreciate the long-term value and it’s something that made me stand out.
Think about additional things you can offer. Do you do video? Do you want to cover a different angle that hasn’t been covered?
FAQs
Q: Blogging isn’t really a thing where I am? What should I do?
A: Absolutely still pitch! Online searching and social media have huge influences on where we visit and where we stay. Maybe the places have never even been reached out to and they’re looking forward to having someone come. Again just make sure to share what you can offer them. The worst they can say is no.
Q: Should I get paid?
A: That’s a tricky question. Yes you can get paid for travelling. However, you will want to build up your reputation and value.
Q: How can I pitch video to work with tourism boards?
Tourism boards will love that! I would say start by creating a city or hotel video on your own time/dime. Then use the pitch template below and add a section such as “I would love to share how I can create video content such as I did here”.
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Some Parting Words
If you have been getting a lot of nos and you’re discouraged just know that it gets easier with time! The more travel you have under your belt, the more of a “resume” that you have and the more authority you have.
If this is your first time, start small and make your offerings big. You want to provide value to them and stand out compared to others who are simultaneously reaching out. Remember that some of these places (especially the luxury resorts) are getting multiple requests a day.
How To Get Paid As a Blogger
If you want to learn how to get paid as a blogger including influencer platforms, how to reach out to brands, charging what you’re worth, how to get noticed by brands, and more. After working with countless bloggers to help turned unapid collaborations into paid campaigns and seeing how many people were undercutting themselves, I put together this affordable guide to help bloggers and influencers make more off of their content. You can purchase this guide for $30.
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