PUBLIC RELATIONS

9TH WEEK
15/12/2020
TRAVEL
PROMOTION

Treating travelers well is critical in the travel and

tourist industry
 If a person spends a large sum on a trip, but then
encounters poor accommodations, rude hotel clerks,
misplaced luggage, and inferior sightseeing
arrangements, he or she comes home angry
 unhappy travelers readily tell their friends how bad
the trip was more than satisfied customers
TRAVEL PROMOTION
Even the best arrangements go wrong at times
 Planes are late
 Tour members miss the bus
 Bad weather riles tempers
This is where the personal touch means so much
 An attentive, cheerful tour director or hotel manager
can soothe guests, and a “make-good” gesture such
as a free drink or meal does wonders
 Careful training of travel personnel is essential
 Many travelers, especially in foreign countries, are
uneasy in strange surroundings and depend more on
others than they would at home
 TOURISM IN TIMES OF
CRISIS
Crisis management is an important part of public
relations in the travel industry, just as it is in
corporate work
 Crises come in many forms, from dangerous
political crises to small but embarrassing
situations
 Key goals of PR during crisis
• Prevention: Keep the incident or event from rising to the level of a
crisis
• Containment: Keep the impact of the crisis on the company to a
minimum
• Control: Establish company control over the situation – including
the media
• Communication: Transmit crisis-related messages accurately and
quickly so they are received, understood, and believed
• Positioning: Position the company in a positive light – caring,
concerned, and taking appropriate action to correct the situation
• Monitoring: Ensure that crisis-related messages result in
meaningful and appropriate actions.
• Inadequate PR during crises can result in:

1) Raised levels of public anxiety, concern, and fear

2) increase rumors
3) Negative images of the company or person
4) Loss of shareholder and public confidence
 Five deadly mistakes of crisis
communication
Bad preparation: The “It Can’t Happen to Me”

Absence: Not being on site immediately

Ignorance: Not understanding the audience’s needs

Silence: Not communicating

Fabrication: Anything but the truth

 Guidelines for talking about risk
• be balanced and honest;
• focus on a specific issue;
• pay attention to what the audience already knows;
• place the risk in appropriate context;
• be respectful in tone and recognize that people have
legitimate feelings as well as thoughts;
• be honest about your limits to solve the problem;
 Strategies for dealing with current crisis

• Forgiveness: win forgiveness from publics and create acceptance for

the crisis
• Sympathy: portray organization as unfair victim of attack by outside
persons; willing to accept losses
• Remediation: offer compensation for victims and families
(counseling & financial assistance)
• correction: take action to reduce recurrence (triple sealed & increased
random inspection)
• Effective leadership: clear, visible, consistent role-modeled
message from beginning by CEO
Thank you