TABLE OF CONTENTS Hotels have a great diversity of audiences that need to be targeted in PR programs. For example, there are employees, with whom you must regularly communicate your messages. Weekly or monthly printed or online newsletters, e-mails, and webcasts are the most common PR tools for these purposes.
Guests or customers are, of course, a primary audience. The principal PR tools for reaching them are in-room printed collateral, personal letters from the general manager delivered to rooms, printed guest newsletters, and in-room TV programming. In recent years many of the larger hotel chains have launched external consumer magazines aimed at frequent, preferred, and potential guests. The Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons are two examples of chains that periodically issue lavish publications that carry their name and appeal to upscale guests.
The customer base audience for hotels and the other three major travel and tourism sectors is generally divided into these two categories: leisure and business travel.
Leisure Travel This category accounts for about 82 percent of all U.S. domestic travel, according to TIA. Most leisure trips are short, lasting one to two nights. Among the most common trip activities are shopping and/or attending a social or family event.
Business Travel TIA reports that this category accounts for 18 percent of all U.S. domestic travel, generating $153 billion in spending. In 2003, more than 38 million travelers generated 210 million person-trips. The majority of these business travelers are middle-aged men taking an average of seven...
