 Tired of staying inside? Glamping provides a safe, socially distant way to travel during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a style of camping that includes resort style services for nature lovers staying in tents, treehouses, teepees, igloos, yurts, and log cabins. The Global Glamping Market is expected to grow around 10.6 percent from 2020 to 2027 and reach a market value of more than US $5.6 million by 2027,” according to Acumen Research and Consulting. Allen Marketing Communications, Inc. a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, spotlights key developments and trends in the glamping industry. Taking The World By Storm The industry is growing faster than ever. Research shows glamping is growing with different demographic groups -- “12 percent of Gen Z, 48 percent of millennials, 28 percent of Gen X, nine percent of baby boomers and three percent of mature ,” according to the KOA North American glamping report. Covid-19 protocols -- face masks, contactless payments, sanitizing stations -- are still in place at many glamping destinations during the coronavirus epidemic. Preparing For Your Trip Glamping offers a wide range of experiences in different budgets ranging from a glamorous tent to a treehouse or yurt a safari-like experience. Staying on a budget is not a problem when it comes to glamping. Savvy glampers are encouraged to bring food since several glamp sites have fridges and kitchens. Other glamping sites provide cooked to order -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Worried about having to form a tent? No need. Some glamping sites will set up your tent prior to arrival. Companies such as Hipcamp are offering unique outdoor stays such as treehouses and marvelous spacious tents. It's recommended to pack the same way one would if they were staying in a hotel. Bring clothing depending on the weather, groceries, toiletries, and anything else that will help you have a pleasant time. Stay Connected For those looking to mix business with pleasure, many campsites have excellent WiFi to enable glampers to extend their stay in an area of natural beauty. Stay plugged in while enjoying nature and your time away from home. Collective Retreats, a well-known glamping company, offers a unique package called work-from-tent that includes strong internet connection, a work table, a stand alone luxury tent with AC, unlimited coffee/tea, on retreat dining, and a complimentary bottle of wine upon arrival. Whether it’s taking work on the road or having the urge to speak to a loved one, glampsites are able to help you stay connected. Electricity is available to charge electronics and WiFi as well. Stay Well Prepared In planning the glamping escape, it is vital to purchase travel insurance. Historically, travel insurance has provided an extra layer of protection should a trip be cancelled due to a natural disaster, act of terror or unexpected medical insurance. In light of the global pandemic, many travel insurance providers have included coverage as it pertains to COVID-19. In fact, Consumer Advocate.org offers the following tips to help travelers navigate the different travel insurance options. “Look for customizable coverage.” “Get a comprehensive policy for once in a lifetime trips.” “Estimate how much travel insurance you need in advance.” Credit cards and cashless, contactless transactions with Apple Pay and Google Pay have become extremely popular during the pandemic. It is important to verify the preferred payment options at the glamping sites before you venture on your getaway. Our travel and lifestyle public relations professionals are here to help. Give us a call. By Mariana Alvarez at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.
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NYC Boutique Lifestyle PR Agency Shares Insights For An Effective Internal Communications Program.7/17/2021  The global Covid-19 pandemic, social unrest and political precariousness has taught companies an important lesson -- internal communication is key to a company’s success. It reaffirms a level of commitment from management to employees during these unprecedented times. Allen Marketing Communications, Inc. a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency based in New York City provides invaluable tips for leveraging internal communications 1) to keep employees informed and engaged with the company and 2) to boost morale and 3) to foster a sense of community., Clear and Concise Message For some businesses, communicating with employees without a clear message or strategic direction could wreak havoc on morale and productivity. In fact, communicating effectively with staff is equally as important as addressing others externally. Implement a Seamless Intranet To Connect With Employees Depending on the size of the company, the industry and the scope of the message, communicating and disseminating information among staff could be relatively manageable. Most employees have access to an internal drive, one-one conversations, website, project management tools, communique, newsletters, surveys, digital channels, social media, phone calls and emails. There should be no reason for teammates to be left in the dark when it comes to receiving relevant company news. Employee communications have played a significant role during the pandemic. Some businesses have had to make the tough decision to have employees work remotely. Managers were concerned with maintaining workflow and had to explore ways to enhance the process of communicating effectively with their team. Keep Employees Informed and Up To Date About Company Developments For some staff, this was their first time working from home, separated from their co-workers. This posed unique challenges, such as the lack of supervision, technological issues, limited team collaboration, social isolation, distractions from home, and in some cases, working in different time zones. Keeping employees who remained in the office informed on how to remain safe during Covid-19 has been very important. Gather Staff Feedback and Address Employee Concerns Companies now have to experience employees returning to work with high levels of anxiety and expectations on job security, childcare, safety risks in commuting on public transportation and getting vaccinated in time for work. Engaging staff for feedback on how to transition back to work can help eliminate some of these anxieties. For instance, management can provide online surveys to staff on their preference of a hybrid schedule, not returning to work in the office at all, working remotely full-time or working two to three days a week in the office. Discovering employees’ concerns early could help prevent them from losing interest in work or impacting their ability to perform their duties. Most importantly, responding to the results of the surveys in an impactful way can make a huge difference in how employees view their jobs overall. It is really important to engage employees and make them feel connected to their place of employment. Happy employees are more productive and it reduces employee turnover. Olivia Almagro is a consultant for Allen Marketing Communications, Inc. based in Miami, Florida and an adjunct business professor.  Solomoon, also known as unimoon, is a trend where newlyweds take separate vacations to relax and recharge after their wedding. The solo honeymoon trend is disrupting the wedding industry -- some couples are actively pursuing solo vacations to pursue personal interest alone or with friends. Did you know . . .
Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, sheds some insights on a solomoon trend. Checking Off Individual Bucket List Trips They say “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Solo honeymoons give newlyweds, who cannot agree on their dream getaway, the flexibility to pursue his or her individual interest such as cooking or an active vacation. The unimoon experience has been expanded to include traveling with close friends and family who share similar interests. The newlyweds who spend a little time away come back refreshed and recharged and ready to embrace their new life together. Bleisure Travel -- Mix Business With Pleasure Who says you can’t mix business with pleasure? The unimoon is an alternative for couples whose time off from work is not always in sync. A recent survey shows “90 percent of millennials, 81 percent of Generation Xers and 80 percent of baby boomers engage in bleisure travel.” It is a common practice for frequent business travelers to extend their time in a particular destination especially if their significant other paid time off doesn’t coincide with his or her time off from work. Honeymoons, on average, are a major expense for newlyweds and some couples can easily spend $4,000 or more. By extending time in a particular destination, it can present a substantial savings for some individuals especially as it pertains to airfare. It is no secret that solo travelers pay more, especially from the single supplement fee from hotels and cruise lines. It is important for savvy travelers who embrace the solomoon to book early and look for travel deals. Post Covid-19 Travel After months of lockdown during the pandemic, some marriages have survived and others have taken its toll during the quarantine. Another twist on the unimoon is for married couples to take time away from each other to once again, relax and to have quality time away from a loved one. As more couples embrace a solomoon, general managers and marketers at hotels and cruise lines and tour companies have an opportunity to tap into a growing segment of the solo travel market. Our travel and lifestyle public relations professionals are here to help. Give us a call.  Congratulations are in order if your business has survived and bounced back from COVID unscathed. Unfortunately, businesses across all sectors experienced the unforeseeable, and some were unable to recover and had to close their doors permanently. While you are preparing for your business return, it’s important to have a solid crisis communication plan in place. Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency based in New York City, offers tips to help businesses emerge and thrive during the post-pandemic. It is important for companies to research, assess the post-crisis situation, and craft a robust message that will help bolster their current position and reputation. Here are a few things to consider while ensuring your business flourishes during these uncertain times. Creating A Strategic Crisis Communication Plan Following the crisis, there may be a change in demand for your goods and services. Research suggests that COVID has forced years of change in the way companies in all sectors do business. This has caused many businesses to rethink the way they operate. Consumer buying has certainly differed from before the pandemic hit. It’s important to have a realistic view of your current situation, and your communication plan should reflect the next phase of those plans. Amend Your Core Messages Nonetheless, companies may need to assess the sector or industry to see if there are any immediate modifications. Can your business adapt to those new changes while meeting the needs of the consumer and maintaining your company’s overall core values? It may require an amendment to your messaging. How can your message be delivered most effectively? What campaigns and communication activities will need to take place? Has a budget been determined in rolling out the campaign? Highlight Concise, Clear and Accurate Messages About Covid-19 Changes To Your Core Business For instance, some restaurants closed their dine-in service, and as the pandemic waned, some gradually began increasing the number of diners in their restaurant at once. Some restaurateurs focused their attention on catering, takeout and gift baskets to strengthen their revenue stream. The gift baskets and charcuterie boards enabled an owner to tap into packaged foods for retail. This is something they never considered doing pre-COVID. Their baskets boasted gourmet spreads, jam and assorted nuts and other items. These brand packages ranged from $30 to $250. The demand was so great, it became an instant hit among new and existing customers. In this instance, the message highlighted the new offerings and how it meets their customers’ needs. Mainly, the content was concise, consistent and accurate. Communicate Covid-19 Pandemic Modifications To Your Business A small furniture business closed its showroom to the public during COVID. Customers were only allowed to purchase online. Now, as cities and states are loosening restrictions, this business has slowly begun allowing customers in its showroom. One thing it decided to keep in place was the online ordering. The company never sold directly to consumers online until the pandemic, which at times presented some new challenges. Spotlight the Health and Safety Measurements At Your Establishment Most of all, the business owner wanted to ensure his customers that while they allow customers back in the showroom, their safety is paramount. More importantly, this business requires customers and employees to continue to wear masks. They also assert that they will slowly expand their product offering. Its message is clear that the business is welcoming everyone back, and it appreciates the support given during the pandemic. This simple adjustment in messaging was reflected concisely and authentically on its website and all media relations, and social media platforms. Lastly, debrief with your team by measuring the company’s progress by reviewing any lessons learned. Our travel and lifestyle public relations team are skilled at crafting a post Covid-19 pandemic recovery program. We are here to help. Give us a call Olivia Almagro is a business adjunct professor and public relations consultant for Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, many entrepreneurs realized that they needed to rapidly pivot their business strategies online in order to keep operating during the lockdown. You may have launched an ecommerce store so that your customers could continue to patronize your business while staying home. But if you rushed to launch your online store, you may need to make some changes in order to bring in more sales and create a better customer experience after the pandemic. From revising your marketing strategy with Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, to investing in better customer service, here’s how you can grow your ecommerce business during the pandemic recovery period. Boost Your Business Skills Maybe you’ve realized that you need to brush up on some important business skills, and trying to learn certain aspects of entrepreneurship on your own isn’t getting you quite the results you want. Heading back to school for an MBA program could be a great investment. By enrolling in an online MBA program you can expand your general business knowledge, learn more about strategy and management, become a better leader, and master the arts of self-awareness and self-assessment. Optimize Your Website If you quickly developed a basic ecommerce website, now is the time to take a look at your site’s design and determine if there is anything you need to change. Constant Contact recommends highlighting your most popular products on the home page, using a pop-up sign-up sheet to encourage people to join your mailing list, and using big, scannable headers and bright images. You can also work on improving your search engine optimization strategy. Expand Your Digital Marketing Efforts When your business is online, you need to focus heavily on digital marketing! You can incorporate everything from email marketing campaigns to social media advertising on platforms like Facebook into your strategy. But you don’t have to master every aspect of digital marketing on your own. Instead, you can hire an expert to help. For instance, if you run a lifestyle business, you may want to work with a lifestyle public relations agency to expand your reach. If you run a travel-related business, you’ll definitely want to invest in digital marketing during the recovery period, and working with a boutique travel public relations agency can be a great choice. Improve Your Customer Service When your customers are shopping online, concentrating on outstanding customer service is the best way to create a genuine connection, despite the lack of face-to-face communication. To give your customers the best service possible, Business recommends offering communication channel options like video chat, phone calls, or a live chat tool; following up after solving problems for customers; and giving them the opportunity to provide feedback. Launch a Mobile App As we move into the recovery period, your customers will be spending more time on the go. How can you make it easier for them to shop at your ecommerce store? Develop and release a mobile app that customers can download for their smartphones! If you know your way around app development, you can design the program yourself, but if not, you can always hire a freelance mobile app developer. Before hiring anyone, make sure to check out their portfolio for examples of their previous work. Shifting from running a brick-and-mortar business to managing an ecommerce store is challenging! But as an entrepreneur, you know how to think on your feet and adapt to overcome obstacles. With these tips, your ecommerce store will thrive after the pandemic. Ready to invest in a new PR strategy for your brand? Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, can support you with everything from media relations to social media marketing to hosting events! We are here to help. Give us a call. Guest post by Chelsea Lamb at Businesspop.net Photo via Pexels  Flexcation, a new Covid-19 pandemic family travel trend, allows families to escape for three to four weeks or longer, with parents working remotely and children enrolled in virtual classes anywhere in the world. Families embrace new ways to mix business with pleasure by traveling during the off- and shoulder season during the calendar school year. A nationwide Vrbo survey of families revealed that 50 percent of those surveyed agreed that flexible school schedules provide more flexibility in vacationing, while 48 percent said they can work from anywhere. And 21 percent of respondents said that working from anywhere creates big opportunities for travel. Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency based in New York City, spotlights key tips for destination marketers, hoteliers, and vacation hotel rentals to inspire families to book a flexcation with their establishment. WiFi is Key The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed our lives forcing many parents to become digital nomads and their children to embrace online learning. It is important for hoteliers and vacation rental owners to showcase WiFi access throughout the property. Connectivity is key since many family members will need access to WiFi often at the same time. Zoom meetings are the new normal to keep managers in touch to their team, as well as teachers connected to their students. Showcase Shoulder and Off-Season Travel Savings By traveling during the shoulder and off-season, families will reap huge savings, on average, for a family of four. Every destination has a shoulder and off-season travel period and savvy travelers can reap substantial savings, 20 percent or more, on airfare, hotel, car rentals. “Flexcationers who wait until later in the season to visit sought-after destinations are also experiencing more attractive prices, with drops of at least 20 per cent in average nightly rates and lighter crowds from August to October, compared to prime summer travel dates. Prices for vacation rentals typically drop during off-peak seasons, which will appeal most to families who are not tied to strict in-person school or office commitments,” according to Short Term Rentals. Shoulder and off-season packages showcase deep discounts will inspire parents looking for a change of scenery to book a flexcation at your establishment. Location is Key Flexcation presents an excellent opportunity to check off a bucket list destination. It is important for destination marketers, hoteliers and vacation rental owners to showcase the endless adventures for parents with younger children, teenagers, and college students. Families will have a chance to live like a local and explore hidden treasures in a particular location. Family packages for local tourist attractions will inspire parents to venture with their children during their free time. Travel Insurance The Covid-19 vaccines are injecting a new lifeline into travel and inspire many families to escape for an adventure of lifetime. Although the number of Covid-19 cases are declining in the U.S., it is still important for families to book travel insurance during the pandemic. Travel insurance will also give families an additional protection should things change unexpectedly before family getaway. Our travel and lifestyle public relations professionals are here to help. Give us a call. By Joanna Allen, chief executive officer, Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.  Opening a new restaurant is a notoriously stressful affair. Securing the proper licenses and permits, finding equipment, hiring staff, and thinking about how to draw in customers are typical stressors — and we didn’t even mention making sure the food is great! Much of the underlying stress that unites all restaurant tasks has to do with money. With that in mind, here are some ways to cut costs during the first few phases of your project, courtesy of Allen Marketing Communications, Inc, a boutique travel, food and beverage and lifestyle public relations agency based in New York City Test Your Concept Through Pop-Ups One of the hottest ways to bring your restaurant business to life is the pop-up. By taking advantage of bars and restaurants that will host your idea, you can create a clientele prior to ever opening a restaurant, cafe, or food truck. You will also have the flexibility to choose which neighborhood you want to be a part of. Though the traditional reasons a chef or restauranteur would want to stage a pop-up are exposure and attracting investors, nowadays, pop-ups can be a solid way to generate buzz while also being a semi-permanent strategy. Organizing a well-prepared pop-up allows you to place your “restaurant” close to the action — a brewery, street fair, or other event. The overhead is also very low, which can help immensely in the beginning stages of your concept. The best things you can do after you get your idea together is to ensure your business will be a legal entity and secure a free EIN number. Make sure that you check with your state and local authorities about how a pop-up should operate in your area. You will also want to plan for the future by creating a business model that you can use to expand when you are ready. Choosing a business service will help greatly with making your dream a reality. Don’t Blow Your Budget On Marketing Public relations is an effective marketing tool to generate credible third party stories about a new restaurant. By incorporating the SEO keywords into all press materials, then you will increase your visibility in online searches and drive traffic to your restaurant. Blogs are another effective low cost marketing strategy to enhance your restaurant’s visibility. It is important to blog at least two times a week. Content is key to increase your online visibility. Social media is another low cost marketing tool. Develop a content calendar. Post at least two to three times a week on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and Snapchat to build loyal first time and repeat customers. It is also important to respond to any posts on your social media feeds. Free advertising is always the best advertising. One of the biggest things new restaurant owners overspend on, in the beginning, is marketing. There’s really no reason for a new restaurant to sink thousands of dollars into traditional marketing campaigns anymore — at least, not at first. Radio, print, and TV campaigns can be of use, but those should wait. Let Technology Help You surely know about low-cost point-of-sale systems and how they can lower your restaurant’s initial (and long-term) operating costs. But there are so many more apps and technologies that can not only help you trim costs, but also analyze your business and tell you where you should trim costs in the future. Some of these include inventory management, cost analytics, invoicing control, and automated payroll software. Don’t Staff Up Too Quickly It’s tempting to want to hire a full, quality staff from day one, but that might not be the best thing financially. It’s better to err on the side of understaffing rather than overstaffing as those payroll costs can be brutal at the beginning of your venture. “Paying a large workforce can cause a strain … when you’re not bringing in a lot of money. Start by hiring for the most crucial positions and try to design a schedule that maximizes each employee’s productivity,” suggests Silverchef. Once you have your staff set, you can reduce labor costs by reducing turnover, being smart and flexible with your scheduling, making changes to your menu, and streamlining your floor setup to minimize back- and front-of-house labor excess. You’ll also need to get very familiar with the world of payroll, which will require a bit of paperwork on its own. For example, you’ll need to collect W-4 forms, make sure you have a pay schedule set up that everyone understands, and pay taxes on time to avoid any penalties or fines. Fortunately, you can outsource this work to payroll for startup services, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business. When you break down all the costs associated with opening a restaurant, you’ll find that a $250,000+ price tag isn’t that rare. No matter how much you get through loans, investors, and your own savings, you’re going to want to do everything you can to trim the fat. Every little bit counts, as the restaurant game is a game of inches. For professional guidance on successfully marketing your venture, connect with Allen Marketing Communications. By Tina Martin, Life Coach and Creator, Ideas Inspired.com  Clubhouse, a new social media platform that sells itself as a podcast with audience participation. It aims to disrupt the social media scene with something completely new. Clubhouse is generating a buzz at the moment -- it is a new social platform for business owners and marketers to find new customers and spread the word about their company, product or service. It also provides an opportunity to work with social media influencers and celebrities to move the need on a company’s product or service.. Let Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, share fun and exciting facts on a new social media platform! What is Clubhouse? Founded one year ago, Clubhouse is a new, completely auditory social media network. Users take part in conversations, debates, or interviews that happen live based on their interests -- upcoming events to controversial topics to book recommendations. We’ll start from the beginning - joining - to best explain the app. Firstly, it is in its beta stages, so the app is invite-only. Existing users can send you one of their two invites, but only if you have an iPhone. Unfortunately, the app isn’t available on Android yet, but beta testing began last month. Once you’ve joined, you’ll pick out a few of your favorite topics so that the app can best connect you to like-minded people and discussions. Like most other social media platforms, you can choose a profile picture and bio to present to the world, as well as connect your contacts to follow friends and family. Clubhouse also offers the option to share content through text or other social media platforms as well. It’s as simple as that, now you’re ready to join or even start your own conversation! All of these discussions happen in ‘rooms,’ which you can find in the feed of content you have followed or indicated your interest in, or through the calendar feature, which holds every planned event on the app. Within a room, there are speakers and listeners. If you did not start the chat, you are automatically made a listener unless the speaker dictates otherwise. To participate as a listener, you must raise your hand and state your question if the speaker calls on you, just like an old-fashioned, in-person Q&A session. Once you’re done, you’re free to leave a room whenever you want. If you’re the speaker, you’re free to close the room whenever you please and the conversation will end for everyone. Clubhouse doesn’t record anything, so the discussions disappear forever once they’re over. This doesn’t mean that participants can’t record the conversations on their own, however. Who’s On It? One of the reasons for the app’s quick rise to popularity is the number of celebrities and influencers on the social media platform. The accessibility to these celebrities is much higher than on other platforms. You’re given the chance to speak directly to the stars, something that doesn’t always exist on other social media networks. Clubhouse also feels more intimate than other social media platforms, especially when it comes to celebrities, but even when you’re interacting with friends or random strangers. Conversations that happen in real-time allow for deeper connections, which is important when considering the common criticism of social media - that it encourages solely superficial connections. Should I Try It? Now that you know what Clubhouse is, there’s really only one question left: should you try it? Well, that’s up to you and whether you can get an invite! It’s a good platform to find and converse with other like-minded individuals, so if that sounds like something you want, it’s definitely worth it! The creators are also working on a monetary portion of the app, whether that is subscriptions, tipping, or something else entirely, which will make it easier to work and make money on the app as well! In the end, Clubhouse is a new, interesting social media platform that breaks from the rest. While it still has to undergo beta testing and more development, it seems to be gaining popularity and here to stay. Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, can help you navigate this new social media platform! By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.  Facebook is the most widely used social media platform. “More than 2.7 billion people use the platform every month,” according to Statista, “giving it a lot of power when it comes to marketing your business.” Recently, Facebook has made a few changes to the social media platform -- new algorithms, email marketing capabilities, Collab, a new app similar to TikTok, just to name a few enhancements. Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique NYC travel and lifestyle PR agency, guides marketers through the new changes/ Facebook Business Suite Facebook Business Suite streamlines content -- create, schedule, post -- on Facebook and Instagram, while also creating one interface for all of Facebook’s companies, such as Messenger and WhatsApp. This allows users to access all of these platforms in one place. This new feature promises to save businesses and influencers time, as they are able to post on multiple platforms at once. In addition, Business Suite insights can help you learn what your customers are looking for and tailor your content to that vision! Individual posts can now be assessed with less difficulty using analytics integration as well. Email Marketing Tools While they are still being tested in a smaller group of Facebook users, new email marketing tools should be coming to the platform for everyone soon. These tools are intended to help businesses and pages reach customers - both new and existing - through digital marketing. As Facebook has access to multitudes of user data, business can utilize it to create extremely helpful tools. While we’re still waiting for Facebook to reveal more about this new feature, it appears to be a big benefit for businesses. Feed Control Currently, Facebook’s algorithm tailors your News Feed to best fit your interests based on the accounts and posts you interact with the most frequently. As of March, users are gaining more control over their own feed. There will now be a “feed filter bar” that will allow users to change the order in which they see posts. The bar offers three options:
Integrating with Shopify Shopify helps businesses or individuals sell their products. Anyone is able to make an account - after paying for the subscription - and set up their shop. One of the largest benefits that Shopify supplies is Shop Pay, which is one of the quickest ways to check out while still keeping your information secure. In fact, Shop Pay is about 70 percent faster than the typical online checkout. Now that Shopify is integrating with Facebook, it’ll be much easier to purchase products on the platform, making it an even better place to market and sell. Collab TikTok has become increasingly popular over the past year, and it has been proven to be a great place to market and advertise products. Facebook has been watching, and now they’re working on a similar app: Collab. While Collab is only in the beta stages right now, so users require an invite to join. While it might be a little while before it’s widely available, it’s worth paying attention to, especially if it has a similar impact to TikTok. Facebook has made many changes in the recent past that make it the ideal place to market and sell goods, and it looks like they’ll only continue to do so. Let Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique NYC travel and lifestyle public relations agency, help you navigate these changes. By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc. Hungry for Travel This Year? NYC Boutique NYC PR Agency Showcases Top Five Food Tourism Trends4/24/2021  Culinary travel, also known as food tourism, enables food lovers to get an authentic experience and explore a culture through food. A recent study by World Food Travel reports “the global culinary tourism market is expected to grow by nine percent between 2019 and 2023. Did you know . . .
Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel, food, and lifestyle PR agency, spotlights the top five food tourism this year. Authentic and Local Food Tourism We all know about the long-standing, most famous foodie destinations, such as France and Italy. While these will hold onto their status, a large number of foodies are turning towards more authentic, regional experiences. Some of the new, popular destinations include Australia, the Philippines, and South Africa. Tourists are doing more than just switching destinations in their search for local, authentic food. Instead of making reservations at high-class, fine-dining establishments, many are instead choosing street vendors, food festivals, and food halls. The preference has changed due to a want to not only learn about the food of a certain place, but to learn about its culture as well. Now, this is not to say that sit-down meals at nice restaurants are a thing of the past, because that certainly is not the case. However, tourists still prefer local, fresh ingredients even then! Hands-On Experiences After being stuck at home for a year, people want more than the traditional foodie experience when engaging in culinary travel. For many, this means hands-on experiences, such as cooking classes, food festivals, food tours, vineyard and brewery tours. They want more than to just taste the flavors, they want to learn about local ingredients and take part in the culture. Essentially, they want more than the traditional dining experience. Individualized Experiences Travelers don’t want a standard, one-size-fits-all option for their vacations anymore. Instead, they are looking to individualized, unique, and memorable experiences. Private tastings are one of the ways in which tourists will accomplish this; the meal itself is catered to their preferences. People are looking for experiences that go above and beyond. Research also shows “tourists are becoming more interested in trying home-cooked meals while getting the chance to interact with locals.” Sharing Through Social Media Social media gives us an easy way to stay connected with our friends and family, allowing us to share photos, thoughts, opinions, and more. So when people go on vacation, they utilize social media to show their loved ones what they’re up to. This means plenty of pictures of food from vacation on Instagram, Facebook, and more. Because of this, restaurants have to focus on not only making their food delicious but well-presented. Unique and beautiful dishes are becoming increasingly popular to create a social media buzz. Virtual Food Tourism Virtual cooking classes gained popularity during the pandemic; people could buy a meal kit and prepare restaurant-quality food at home. We expect to see this taken to the next level for the remainder of 2021. People are going to explore the flavors and cuisine of a destination without ever leaving their house. The ingredients are sent to them, and they participate in a virtual class with a teacher local to the region the food is from. Additionally, activities like virtual food tours and wine tastings are expected to hold onto or even gain popularity in the upcoming year. Food tourism has been gaining popularity steadily, and it’s not expected to slow down any time soon. Allen Marketing Communications will help you navigate these trends! By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, inc. |
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