Our insider series with travel professionals continues with a candid Q&A with Laura Davidson from LDPR. Laura has focused exclusively on travel public relations during the course of her impressive 25 year career, and is also involved in SATW (Society of Travel Writers), among others. One of her key missions is to give back to society, and we are grateful to her for taking the time to chat with us candidly about social media and working with travel bloggers in general.

ButterflyDiary: What are your views on Social Media and travel? Has it helped you?  Any specific anecdote you can share?  

Laura Davidson: Social media has really helped the travel industry, both in terms of sharing information quickly, generating buzz about a product and in getting last-minute bookings. We have many clients at LDPR that have created social-media specific offers (open exclusively to Twitter and Facebook) with the purpose of generating sales. Abercrombie & Kent has done a series of “flash sales” and received a number of bookings through social media channels. A&K is now also very active on Twitter and Facebook. Trump SoHo is another one of our clients that promotes last-minute packages and spa specials to their Twitter followers. The hotel has also seen success in utilizing social media in this way. 

Q: You represent a strong travel roster and I’m sure that media and publicity has played a role in their success. How do your clients enjoy working with the blogging community?

A: Our clients definitely enjoy working with bloggers. Inviting bloggers on a trip is similar to a live broadcast – the bloggers produce coverage in real time, getting news out immediately and capturing experiences as they happen.  Almost two years ago, we invited a large number of Mommy bloggers to Atlantis in the Bahamas to launch the resort’s new Kids Club, Atlantis Kids Adventures (AKA). The Twitter activity alone was exciting to watch and engage with and the website click-throughs were tremendous.

Q: What would be your advice to a newbie travel blogger?

A: It’s helpful to have an understanding of the travel industry. That assists in building your relationships with hotels, destinations and even PR people. I would also say to benchmark successful and notable blogs, but in developing your own, do not forget to find your voice.  I would also recommend participating in industry organizations like TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange) and SATW (Society of American Travel Writers) for networking opportunities and guidance.

Q: Do you distinguish between bloggers and journalists anymore or is that thin line becoming increasingly non existent?

A: I do not think there is really a distinguished line anymore between the two. On the PR side and for our clients, we are mainly concerned in working with professional people who produce valuable results and really get across our client’s message. In today’s world, social media is truly a part of the overall media mix.  

Q: If you wanted travel bloggers to be aware of one thing, what would it be? 

A: Though it’s important to network with other travel bloggers, do not be afraid of reaching out to other groups. Think of PR people that you’ve worked with, destination representatives, hoteliers who are social media savvy, etc. At LDPR, we’re happy to be a resource. And if I could add one other thing, it’s important that travel bloggers be aware of their site’s unique visitors, Twitter followers, Klout scores, etc. The more information the better! As publicists, we are responsible for measurement and value for our clients and though we understand it’s not black and white, the numbers and background details still help.  

Q: Name three destinations you would really like to visit in the next year.

A: We are fortunate to have a great list of clients to visit so I try to see them as much as possible. I am hoping to get to Melbourne, Australia this year and make a winter ski trip over to Vail.  Outside of the client realm, I also really want to visit Croatia!   

Stay tuned for further interviews in this series!

- Charu Suri

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