Missed PR opportunities?

​Are you missing out on an opportunity for some mainstream media coverage?

A Guardian travel journalist recently told me it's incredibly hard for them to find good UK tourism stories for publications such as the weekend supplements.

Yes I know! Hard to imagine!

​Most tourism businesses want free coverage in credible publications. So why is it hard for journalists to feature you?

​The problem is: journalists love anything that is new or different. And yet, new businesses are often so focused on getting ready, they fail to tell people what they’re doing. Or do so when they're no longer new so they miss out on initial publicity.

Those of you who have had your business for a while are probably thinking you need a shiny new building to justify a mention in a newspaper story. Not so.

Journalists want something that sounds new. It doesn’t have to be an expensive building. It could just be a new package, a new angle, a new experience. Sometimes it’s just a question of being imaginative. Developing something that appeals to a niche market is bizarrely appealing to mass media.

I remember a BBC Radio 4 programme and several press articles about a hotel that offered chances to play scrabble with strangers.

Another example was an agency set up in Germany to offer holidays for people who were suffering from some sort of heart-break. Maybe they really did, maybe they didn’t. As far as the media were concerned, they just wanted to be able to write about something new and different.

So the message is clear: the media want stories, you want media coverage - you just need to dream up a clever idea that sounds new! Simple...

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