Press and PR

If you’re organising a Press Trip or looking for Travel PR with an Online and Social Media slant, I’d love to hear from you. My blog is focused on travel experiences and inspiring destinations. I cover travel destinations that will interest the independent-minded traveller, who seeks out unusual, off the beaten track, and high quality travel experiences, at all levels of budget.

Read on for what I can bring to your campaign or e-mail me at Heathercowper(at)blueyonder(dot)co(dot)uk if you have some suggestions on ways we can work together.

PR and Product Reviews

If you’re running a particular campaign or PR theme, I can slant any content I produce to fit in with it, such as family, gourmet, adventure, citybreaks, winter sun. You may also be interested in the sponsored posts I occasionally run on my blog, as an alternative to banner advertising. Please see my Guest Post Page for more details. If you’d like to also consider Advertising, please read my Advertising Page

I’m happy to consider promoting a travel related service or product, if it’s something I believe will be of interest in my readers. In this case, I would normally ask for a sample of the product to review and one to give away in a draw to readers who comment on the post (for higher value products one may be sufficient). Depending on the type of product I can also include a video review about the product - see an example of a video review here and take a look at some of the other travel products I have reviewed here.

Please e-mail me at Heathercowper(at)blueyonder(dot)co(dot)uk if you have some suggestions on ways we can work together.

Press Trips

I’m always interested to be considered for any Press Trips you’re organising, particularly to promote a region, city, resort or local destination. I am UK based, and so can easily cover UK and European destinations and cities. I’m also interested in world destinations, particularly those with a warmer climate and opportunities for adventurous, cultural and independent travel experiences. I travel on my own, with my husband or a girlfriend, or as a family group including my teenage children.

My family travels tend to be oriented towards ski breaks, resorts, cruises, outdoor and adventure family activities, short breaks. When travelling as a couple or with girlfriends, I tend to cover city-breaks, short hotel breaks, girly spa breaks. On my own, my preference is for cultural exchange and adventurous travel and to get off the beaten track. My preferred style of trip is to have some flexibility around dates and itinerary and the articles I write about a destination, in order to pick out the things that I and my readers find enjoyable and inspiring. I’m also love to be considered for group press trips or trips where I can include my family at a subsidised rate.

Here’s what I can offer

• Full coverage of any trips on my blog – that normally means up to 10 articles (depending on the length or trip) on different aspects of the visit, such as food, accommodation reviews, sightseeing, activities, travel resources.
• Guest posts on other blogs – I have excellent links with the travel blogging community and normally offer guest posts to other blogs that are appropriate for each destination and type of travel.
• Articles on other established blogs I write regularly for – I currently write weekly about European destinations on Europe a la Carte and there may be others in the future.
• Syndication of my articles – Some of my articles are syndicated to appear on other websites such as Lonely Planet and World Reviewer, Tips from the T-List, ensuring a wider audience.
• Video – I make short videos about things of interest in the places I visit which I use to illustrate my blog posts and are available on my Youtube Channel. Here’s a video example.
• Podcasts – I normally make one or more 30 min+ podcasts on each trip, such as an audio diary of the things I enjoyed or an interview with a local expert about the destination. All Podcasts are available for download through I-tunes page and from my blog. Here’s a podcast example.
• Photographs – My best photos from each trip are made available on my Flickr site, with links to the relevant blog posts, and are given a Creative Commons licence to enable them to be used freely, including by the sponsoring organisation if desired.
• During the trip – if internet access permits, I will write a number of short blog posts and tweets while on the trip in order to generate instant interest and awareness. This in addition to more in depth articles I write on my return. Here’s an example.
• Twitter – During my visit, I regularly tweet @Heathercowper about the interesting things I see and also use Twitter to build an audience and promote blog posts.
• Stumble-upon – I use Stumble-upon as a promotional tool to build and audience and promote blog posts.
• Content for Destination or company websites – I am happy to provide articles to appear on a sponsoring organisation’s website or blog.

Please e-mail me at Heathercowper(at)blueyonder(dot)co(dot)uk if you have some suggestions on ways we can work together. I’m always happy to come up with ideas or a proposal that is specific to your campaign.

Case Study – Istria Tourism board

I was invited by the Istria Tourism Board with my family for a 4 days trip in August 2009 to stay near the town of Porec. The Istria Tourism board was looking to develop their promotion of this province of Croatia through new media channels and had already hosted a successful press trip for a number of international travel bloggers. They now wanted to extend this new media coverage, re-inforcing Istria as a great family destination, and also one with much to offer in the way of heritage, cycling and gourmet holidays.

During my stay I wrote a number of short posts or ‘postcards’
A postcard from Istria in Croatia
Postcard No 2 from Istria in Croatia
Postcard No 3 from Istria in Croatia
Postcard No 4 from Istria in Croatia

On my return I published the following articles on my own blog, focusing on the themes of family travel, cycling and gourmet travel;
On the hunt for the Istrian Truffle in Croatia
A room with a view - staying at Plava Laguna Resort in Istria, Croatia
A seafood feast at Limski Kanal in Istria, Croatia
A celebration of food from Istria in Croatia
Cycling by the sea in Istria, Croatia
We were silhouetted at Rovinj in Istria, Croatia
Visiting the hill towns of Grožnjan and Motovun in Istria
A Symbolya Map of Istria - a great way to record your travels

And the following guest posts;
Fun for Families in Istria, Croatia
Eat Local, Eat Truffles, in Istria, Croatia
A visit to the Coastal town of Porec in Istria

A podcast diary about the trip which can be downloaded from my blog or from I-tunes;
My Istria Travel Diary - Podcast

A video about the hotel and resort;
Plava Laguna Resort in Istria, Croatia - Video

Case study - Accommodation reviews

Below you’ll find some examples of hotel and accommodation reviews, both on my own blog and for other travel websites. Please e-mail me at Heathercowper(at)blueyonder(dot)co(dot)uk if you have a hotel or other accommodation you’d like me to review.

Luxury Boutique Hotel Review for Mr & Mrs Smith - Lisbon
Budget Boutique Hotel - Circus Hotel, Berlin
Country House Hotel Review - Fawsley Hall, UK
Resort and Hotel Review - Plava Laguna, Istria, Croatia
Resort and Hotel Video - Plava Laguna, Istria, Croatia
Bed & Breakfast Review - Catsheyes, Devon, UK
Campsite Review - Cala Gonone, Sardinia

Please e-mail me at Heathercowper(at)blueyonder(dot)co(dot)uk if you have any further proposals or questions.