The Power Of The Presstrip

" 'Velvety white sands, the sweet smell of oleander drifting on a light summer's breeze, the wide-grinned greetings of the local people.' This is what I had thought I would be writing about, but instead I discovered beaches as welcoming as the banks of the Humber, the lingering stench of cat urine and miserable, aggressive locals only too ready to fleece you of your last coin in return for some odious apology of so-called gastronomy."

I have made the above up. I am not referring to anywhere. I'm pretending. Pretending to be a travel writer who, rather than reporting what a PR company or tourism agency would wish me to report, offers an honest resort assassination that will ensure that I never get invited back to write about this fictitious resort or indeed get invited to write about any resort ever again, as my name would swiftly find its way onto PR blacklists the world over.

Jaime Martínez, the Balearics director-general of tourism, has announced that the budget for travel fairs and other "actions" will amount to a mere two million euros for the upcoming season of promotion, the first major event of which is London's World Travel Market in early November. (This figure does not, by the way, include finance for advertising; not of course that there may be any.)

Stung by the utter embarrassment that the Balearics had to endure at the last major fair in Berlin, the Balearics stand in London will be significantly larger than in Berlin - ten times larger. Nevertheless, austerity still rules the day when it comes to tourism promotion; hence, the spend on fairs and these other "actions" is down to a third or a quarter of what it had been only a couple of years ago and the Balearics stand will in fact be part of the Turespaña pavilion rather than a stand-alone affair.

Martínez reckons, however, that the two million euros will be money more effectively spent. Whereas in 2009 7.2 million euros went on only 33 different types of event, the two million will stretch to over 100. And of these 100 or more, some will be famtrips, presstrips or blogtrips.

The fam in famtrip stands for familiarisation. Famtrip can be applied to trips made by travel agents and tour operators as well as to the press, the ones who make the presstrips, and to bloggers who may be the same as the mainstream press but not always. What press and blogtrips are intended to achieve is wide and positive coverage, be it in the print or online media. Such trips are always paid for by the destination with the possible exception of air travel, though this can also be financed if the trip happens to be to a destination where a tour operator with its own airline has an interest in promoting.

Presstrips are accepted practice and an accepted part of the promotional mix. They come in two different forms: one, the group trip which can include tens of journos; the other, the so-called individual hosting trip. The travel writer would always prefer the latter. He or she wouldn't have to put up with other hacks getting drunk, while there is usually less work involved; the group trip is a packed itinerary whereas the individual hosting trip would tend to be more specific and often arranged not by or on behalf of tourism authorities but by specific companies or specific businesses (hotels for example).

The crucial issue with write-ups following presstrips is just how objective they are. A full-on slagging-off simply wouldn't happen, even if it were merited. It's why you would never get the fictitious review above if the trip has been paid for.

Articles by travel writers about Mallorca are invariably highly positive. There is an awful lot to be positive about, but one does just have to pause on occasion and work out what is going on. As an example, there was an article in "The Sun" a couple of months ago. It was about Puerto Pollensa, but it was essentially promotion for a hotel (and the tour operator that has exclusivity). It was a good enough article, despite some errors (it is never Porto Pollensa), but if you understand some of the background, you then understand its advertising function; not only for the resort, the hotel and the tour operator but also an attraction that was mentioned with which the tour operator has a strong association.

I would stress that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Quite the contrary. It is very good marketing, but this example, and there are many, highlighted the way that presstrips are meant to work. For this reason, therefore, Martínez is right to look to them as means of promotion. They can be extremely effective, so long as they are not transparently obvious advertising and become more like advertorials.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.