I frequently pick up a copy of broadsheet travel supplements, and am almost always dissapointed. They just seem to cover the same old, tried and tested (and tired) destinations every week. France, Italy, USA etc - dull, dull dull!

Yes - these are nice countries, but I want inspiration. But then, that's the great thing about the web - so many smaller sites covering more off the beaten path places.

Kathryn
http://www.kathrynliston.com
http://kathrynliston.blogspot.com/

I am a travel PR and I’m happy to report that I’m still organising trips! Although I work for a private holiday rentals website so I do only cover accommodation, not flights.

However, I have been mulling over an idea for a while now, which may be of interest to anyone who, like Jeremy, is finding the press trip landscape rather arid at the moment! It would be great to discuss with anyone who feels like it may be something they could, and would like to do, in any case.

Here’s an outline: our site lists private holiday homes available to rent, an accommodation option which is becoming increasingly popular as travellers realise it is a cost-effective and also an authentic way to travel, and that there is an absolutely huge choice of properties to choose from worldwide (we even have some in Central & South America!). - In a holiday home you can live like a local and really make your home ‘where you hang your hat’.

My idea, therefore, was that we could send an experienced travel writer ‘Around the world in 80 holiday homes’ so they can speak about their experiences of living like a local in various different destinations worldwide. Blogging and tweeting (of course!) about their experiences as they go, uploading photos and videos etc… to produce a rich media experience for their readers and enabling them to ‘virtually’ follow the person around the world. I believe this has the potential to generate a significant following, as per the now well-known http://soultravelers3.com/ of whom I’m sure you are all aware!

The person could produce features for the print press too, and we could work together to coincide their trip with local festivals/events of interest etc…

We could source/fund all the accommodation for the trip, but other funding (travel etc…) still needs some more thought. We have scope to dedicate additional budget to it though.

This would not need to be a commercial ‘sponsored’ blog/column; my idea is that the person will simply thread in to each piece the benefits of staying in a home from home, “Writing this watching the sunset from my balcony”, “Just off to make myself an espresso on ‘my’ machine”, etc…. and of course provide a link through to the home they are staying in.

I’d be very interested to hear feedback on this from a writer’s perspective (bad, or good!), and to discuss with anyone who thinks it might be up their street… Could be a great option for escaping all the doom and gloom reports here at home (Our MD quite liked the idea herself, but she’s just had a baby….!)

Sarah

Airlines as many have mentioned are quite difficult to secure as some have unrealistic expectations of coverage - requesting full page features with images in consumer magazines. I would suggest that aside from the mention of the airline in the pull-out box, research what new products the airline is pushing i.e new business class seats, enhanced inflight entertainment, options for business travellers, even freight and holiday package options etc and pitch these features to airline and travel trade magazines in addition to perhaps some on-line and blog coverage. They do usually prefer to host media on inaugural flights to new destinations as routes that already enjoy high traffic don't need the publicity as much.

While it's rare that the entire trip will be covered, when I balance out the work/fun ratio of expenses, I'm usually pretty pleased.