The CVB works year-round to generate media coverage about the Springfield area as a travel destination. One of the strategies used to achieve that goal is inviting content creators, such as travel writers, bloggers, and influencers, to the city for press tours. Those tours showcase the city’s tourism assets and provide experiences content creators use to produce compelling stories about the city.
Two freelance writers and a magazine editor attended a press tour in October.
- Randy Mink, editor for Premier Travel Media, looked for ways the city’s attractions could host bus tours and other group travel activities. Premier Travel Media publishes Leisure Group Travel, Destination Reunions, and other publications targeting the group travel market.
- Pamela Dittmer McKuen is a freelance writer whose work appears in MSN (US), HuffPost, Yahoo News UK, Yahoo Singapore, Chicago Tribune, Flipboard, HuffPost UK, National Association of REALTORS®, Realtor Magazine, and more.
- Freelancer Theresa Russell’s work has appeared in Travel Market Report, Cruise Radio, Porthole Cruise Magazine, Wander With Wonder, and other travel media outlets.
Planning is underway on another press tour focusing on the city’s arts and culture scene Dec. 1-4. Along with visiting the Springfield Art Museum and galleries throughout the city, the five journalists on the tour will attend plays at Landers Theatre and the Historic Fox Theatre, make a unique souvenir at Creative Escape Glass, and enjoy other arts-focused events and locations.
The CVB’s PR team attends national and international press conferences to establish relationships with some of the media invited to press tours. CVB PR Manager Susan Wade represented Springfield in October at the Society of American Travel Writers International Conference.
