Description
This webinar is all about the all-important travel PR and freelancer relationship. Right now, commissions can be increasingly hard to secure, editors are dealing with overflowing inboxes and internal pressures, and PRs and clients face budget cuts – which means there’s a greater need to spend wisely and be accountable. This session is about what’s working and what isn’t, on both sides, and what we can all do to maintain good relationships, secure great commissions (and trips/trip support), and manage expectations
We’ll unpick terms such as “Confirmed (guaranteed) commissions” and “In exchange for coverage”, discuss the differences (and similarities) between US and UK assignments when it comes to press trips and commissions, and address issues such as first-come-first-served places, expectations of coverage and trip support, and many other aspects.
This knowledgeable panel includes two experienced, talented PR professionals: Mala Mistry, Head of Marketing & Communications at SLC Representation whose current clients includes the US state of Virginia, Dubai and Jordan.; Tolene Van Der Merwe, Director, UK & Ireland at Malta Tourism Authority. And alongside them, two prolific, hard-working freelance travel journalists: Athens-based travel and yachting journalist and Lonely Planet author Helen Iatrou; and Sydney-born, London-based freelance travel journalist Sarah Rodrigues. Both work closely with PRs on solo and group press/media trips, and have experience writing for US, UK and global publications. More on all them below.
This webinar is sponsored by Adventure Travel Networking (ATN) and supported by Talking Travel Writing (TTW) – details below. If you want to suggest any questions for the webinar (there will be a Q&A during the live event too), please email travelwritingwebinars@gmail.com
The panellists
Mala Mistry is Head of Marketing & Communications at SLC Representation. For the past decade, she has been working as a PR professional in the travel and tourism sector, managing the PR for brands including the APT Travel Group, Merlin Entertainments and Tourism Western Australia. In that time, she has organised and hosted multiple press trips with journalists, content creators, and managed an array of film crews. With a journalism background, she understands both sides of the story – from finding the right angle to delivering commercial gain. At SLC, she oversees a team managing several destinations including the US state of Virginia, Dubai and Jordan.
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Tolene Van Der Merwe is the Director, UK & Ireland at the Malta Tourism Authority, a role she’s held for six years, overseeing all marketing and brand management, and building long-term collaborations with media and trade partners. With over 27 years experience in the travel industry, her previous roles include Hub Head for UK & Ireland at South African Tourism, Director at Boutique Travel Marketing, and Product Manager for African Affair Travel. Growing up in South Africa’s Great Karoo, her roots in a farming family have fostered a lifelong passion for nature and wildlife.
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Helen Iatrou is an Athens-based travel and yachting journalist, born and raised on a big island, Australia, to Greek immigrant parents from a small Aegean island. A University of Queensland journalism graduate, she has 25+ years of journalism experience. A full-time freelancer since 2019, her work appears in National Geographic Travel, Travel + Leisure, CNN, CNBC, Condé Nast Traveller/Traveler, Robb Report, Afar, Adventure.com and more. She is also a Lonely Planet guidebook author. Between editorial positions, she worked in media relations for the City of Athens and senior PR roles for tourism marketing organisation Marketing Greece and a US-based travel PR agency for a combined 15 years.
Website: heleniatrou.com
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Sarah Rodrigues is a Sydney-born freelance journalist, now living in London. With degrees in Arts and Law, plus a qualification in nutrition, she writes on travel, health, and family for national and international publications, including The Guardian, The Times and Condé Nast Traveller. Some of her favourite travel experiences have come from random encounters and conversations with strangers, and she enjoys few things more than ditching her original plans in favour of having an unexpected adventure
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Meera Dattani is the founder of Travel Writing Webinars, executive editor at Adventure.com, and a freelance travel and culture journalist with bylines in Condé Nast Traveller, National Geographic Traveller, GreenTraveller, Travel Weekly, Olive magazine, and others. Former Chair and Events Director of the British Guild of Travel Writers, she is also a mentor, awards judge, and a speaker and moderator on external panels about travel writing, sustainable tourism and other travel media topics.
Website: meeradattani.com
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This is the 12th in a series of informal webinars aimed at travel writers. This session is sponsored by Adventure Travel Networking (ATN), an award-winning organisation founded by Pru Goudie that promotes adventure and experiential travel with a positive impact. As well as an annual two-day hybrid Conference & Marketplace in London each February, the twice-a-year spring/autumn ATN Media Meet-up connects the adventure travel community with key travel media during an informal networking event with a panel session. If you write about positive impact adventure/experiential travel, contact Pru here. Follow ATN on LinkedIn.
The webinar is also supported by Talking Travel Writing. TTW is a Substack newsletter that promises to demystify the travel media for freelancers forging a career in travel writing. Follow on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
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If you’ve missed previous webinars, you can watch past sessions on topics such as how to be a better ‘sustainable travel’ journalist, writing sparkling copy that gets you re-commissioned, using data and trends in travel writing, and better mental health and wellbeing (free webinar). All events are available here.
