JulyMagazine:Layout 1 6/24/10 1:17 PM Page 1 Profiles of Travel & Travel goes digital, pg. 9 Tourism PR firms, pg. 22 Safe to go back in the water: has travel recovered from recession? Pg. 20 Rankings of top Travel & Tourism PR firms, pg. 35 Gulf disaster: tourism goes into crisis mode, pg. 14 July 2010 | www.odwyerpr.com JulyMagazine:Layout 1 6/24/10 1:17 PM Page 2 Leading Feature News Distribution Service MULTIMEDIA EXTRAVAGANZA! COVER ALL YOUR MEDIA BASES PRINT,ONLINE,RADIO AND TV Also Included In the Lineup: • Posting on NAPSNET.COM • Search Engine Optimization • Twitter Feeds to Editors • Social Media • Blogging • Anchor Texting • Hyperlinking • RSS Feed in XML • Podcasting • YouTube CSNN Channel [email protected] • www.napsinfo.com New York Chicago Washington Los Angeles San Francisco 212-867-9000 312-856-9000 202-347-5000 310-552-8000 415-837-0500 JulyMagazine:Layout 1 6/24/10 1:17 PM Page 3 JulyMagazine:Layout 1 6/24/10 1:17 PM Page 4 Vol. 24, No. 7 July 2010 CONTENTS EDITORIAL HOW MEDIA HANDLES ‘Media Merger Summer’ to reveal ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER more news bias. Forced to respond to two different 6 18disasters at the same time, one PR agency NEWSWIRES VICTIM TO describes how it avoided a communications STRING OF HOAX NEWS calamity. 14 Three phony news stories hit major 8 newswires in late June, prompting the LOCALIZING YOUR SOCIAL services to increase security measures. MEDIA IMPACT Often, your biggest business TRAVEL PR SAILS INTO 19opportunities lie no further than your own DIGITAL WATERS backyard. A shrinking media landscape, along with recession weary travelers, has pushed9 TRAVEL REBOUNDS AMID leisure PR into the digital realm. RECESSION, DISASTER While campaigns and budget ORLANDO POW WOW 20costs still suggest caution, communicators SHOWCASED TRAVEL FEAST working in travel and tourism claim the Taking You Around Highlights from the U.S.T.A’s 42nd industry is on the uptick. annual Pow Wow in Orlando. 10 20Cover photos: Michael O’Shea. PROFILES OF TRAVEL & the World Since 1972 ‘FLASH SELLING’ RISES IN TOURISM PR FIRMS www.odwyerpr.com TRAVEL SECTOR Daily, up-to-the minute PR news A recent study by Ypartnership and 22 the Harrison Group reveals the trends11 shap- ing Americans’ travel decisions this year. RANKINGS OF TOP TRAVEL & • Tours & Groups TOURISM PR FIRMS TRAVEL PERCEPTION, 30 • Cruise.com RAIN OR SHINE How do pros meet client demands, WASHINGTON REPORT • Student Travel as oil spills, economic pressures and12 new media landscapes hamper PR efforts? 40 • Vacation Destination Experts WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO COLUMNS • Competitive Online Booking BE A DIGITAL AGENCY EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2010 New technologies change how PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s Guide communicators create, shape 13 36 Fraser Seitel February: Environmental & P.A. • One-on-One Travel Consultation and execute their campaigns. GUEST COLUMN March: Food & Beverage WHEN DISASTER STRIKES: 37 Wes Pedersen April: Broadcast & Social Media Locations: TOURISM TURNS CRISIS PR GUEST COLUMN May: PR Firm Rankings How PR pros can respond when 38 Arthur Solomon June: Global & Multicultural disaster threatens a travel or 14 July: Travel & Tourism NorthAmerica, Europe, tourism campaign. MEDIA WORKSHOP August: Financial/I.R. Jon Gingerich Asia Middle East 39 September: Beauty & Fashion POSITIVE THINKING AND PEOPLE IN PR October: Healthcare & Medical PR: A WORKING PRIMER Find out about cruises sailing from New York 41 November: High-Tech Five simple suggestions that can PR BUYER’S GUIDE and other worldwide destinations make a difference both in business16 and in 42 December: Entertainment & Sports life. ADVERTISERS 888-333-3116 Davis & Gilbert.................21 KEF.....................................3 Ruder Finn........................15 CAUTION URGED ON 212-563-3500 SOCIAL MEDIA Evins Comms....................13 Log-On..............................25 TV Access........................20 Research shows most consumers Fleishman-Hillard..BACK COVER NAPS............INSIDE COVER Zimmerman Agency...........7 still form their opinions from what they17 see in Hawkins Intl. PR...............17 Omega Travel.....................5 OmegaNewYork.com traditional media. HSMAI.............................43 rbb PR...............................16 World Headquarters • 3102 Omega Office Park, O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. (212) 679-2471; fax: (212) 683-2750. Periodical postage paid at New Fairfax, Va., 22031• 703-359-0200 York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to O’Dwyer’s, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. O’Dwyer’s PR Report ISSN: 1931-8316. Published monthly. JulyMagazine:Layout 1 6/24/10 1:17 PM Page 5 Taking You Around the World Since 1972 • Tours & Groups • Cruise.com • Student Travel • Vacation Destination Experts • Competitive Online Booking • One-on-One Travel Consultation Locations: NorthAmerica, Europe, Asia Middle East Find out about cruises sailing from New York and other worldwide destinations 212-563-3500 888-333-3116 OmegaNewYork.com World Headquarters • 3102 Omega Office Park, Fairfax, Va., 22031• 703-359-0200 JulyMagazine:Layout 1 6/24/10 1:17 PM Page 6 EDITORIAL ‘Media Merger Summer’ to reveal more news bias NATURALLY, THE FIRM BEST KNOWN FOR edia is big business. Much to the FCC and media rivals’ chagrin, Comcast is poised EDITOR-IN-CHIEF to merge with NBC Universal in a $30 billion partnership that would marry the Jack O’Dwyer HOSPITALITY IS LOCATED IN THE SOUTH. Mworld’s largest cable and broadband provider to one of its biggest TV networks. [email protected] Time Warner unit Warner Brothers Entertainment is currently engaged in talks to acquire British TV production company Shed Media. Cablevision recently acquired cable provider ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Bresnan for $1.3 billion. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has bought the Skiff e-reader for $11 Kevin McCauley billion. As our “media merger summer” looms, a reasonable question could be: what will the [email protected] final content be like? The current state of corporate news reveals a unique hegemony: finely tuned on the research EDITOR Jon Gingerich and development end, the news has been retooled to meet marketing standards like any other [email protected] consumable product. Meanwhile, its content manages an exponential free fall in quality, embracing a biased editorialization of world events that shoots for visceral impact and prolif- SENIOR EDITOR erates an uninformed, one-sided worldview. The fact is, more people are watching the news Greg Hazley than ever, though it’s the last place you can turn to for reliable facts. [email protected] Glenn Beck, when not referring to healthcare reform as “reparations for slavery,” when not calling President Obama a “racist” because he won’t meet with BP executives (or a “socialist,” CONTRIBUTING EDITORS depending on his mood), loves to rile Tea Party constituents by claiming the Obama Fraser Seitel Administration is planning a shopping spree with our hard-earned tax dollars. In reality, Richard Goldstein Obama’s 25 separate tax cuts as part of the stimulus package have resulted in an average fam- Christine O’Dwyer ily of four now paying 4.6 percent of its income in Federal income taxes, the ADVERTISING SALES second lowest Federal tax rate in 50 years. John O’Dwyer Rush Limbaugh, when not claim- Advertising Sales Manager ing last winter’s snowstorms were a [email protected] “nail in the coffin” to global warm- Joshua Fierman ing (apparently he’s a scientist National Advertising Representative now), says the BP escrow account [email protected] “shakedown” is “straight out of the Communist Manifesto,” that Jack Fogarty Obama “looted” BP and even com- National Advertising Representative mitted an “abject violation of the U.S. [email protected] Constitution.” Par for the course, Sean Hannity recently claimed that Obama is “cutting troops’ pay” and “cutting back on the mili- O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 tary spending now as we speak.” Which is funny, because he isn’t. a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the Shortly after Scott Brown took Massachusetts’ Senate seat, Keith Oberman baselessly J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., charged him as being an “irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. teabagging supporter of violence against women.” The sad fact is, it’s simply no longer accu- (212) 679-2471 Fax (212) 683-2750. rate to claim Fox News is the lone stenographer for party politics. They’re simply doing what all the networks now do: supplying a product that keeps their existing customers happy. © Copyright 2010 The news has undergone a branding revolution, positioned itself to reiterate the precon- J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. ceived perceptions of its market segment. Taken to its logical extreme, the news becomes something akin to a Jorge Luis Borges story: it’s a world where everyone has a special chan- à la carte OTHER PUBLICATIONS & nel devoted to them, an informational parroting mechanism where content is catered SERVICES: to mirror our subjective, myopic worldviews. A slightly more realistic expectation of this trend is a news environment that simply appeals www.odwyerpr.com breaking news, commentary, useful databases and more. It is no secret the South is known for a special blend of hospitality. to our drool-bibbed, fledgling attention spans. In order to take advantage of a coveted market segment and climbing ratings, MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” has been the subject What you might not know is the nation’s leading hospitality Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter An eight- of a noticeable format retooling, from a bona fide news program into an obvious aping of “The page weekly with general PR news, media and travel firm is located in the land of sweet tea and spanish Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Does it bother you that news programs are now remodeling appointments and placement opportunities.