Press Trip Invite Etiquette Do’s and Don’ts

PS: These are crowd-sourced from a dozen travel writers for top-tier publications

Happy Friday, friends!

I’m beyond blessed to have been invited on SO many press trips throughout my career. My first was in 2012, while I was serving as editor-in-chief of the AAA travel magazine for Arizona (fun fact: it was called Highroads, but has long since folded and got morphed into what’s now known as Via).

That trip was EPIC, a 12-day Mediterranean cruise on a small and luxurious ship visiting 5 countries … it was my first time in Europe and I was absolutely hooked. Since that time, I’ve joined upwards of 100 press trips around the U.S., and to such amazing countries as Fiji, Ireland, Mexico, and a handful of Caribbean islands. I typically take 12-20 press trips each year (obviously Covid slowed things down the last 2 years), so it’s a big part of my business/portfolio.

My press trip invitations come in all forms, but most begin with a simple email. While some of the emails I receive absolutely nail best practices and make me shriek with delight, others leave me with more questions than answers. So I wanted to share some tips for how to craft the perfect press trip invite.

If this topic interests you, you’re in luck! Besides what you’ll learn below, future newsletters will discuss how to host the perfect press trip and why “confirmed coverage” is no longer a thing. Seriously. It’s not a thing.

If this topic bores you, you’re also in luck! I have plenty of other exclusive content to share that’s not related to travel — such as When It’s Ok to Ask for Edits to an Article That Includes Your Client and Reasons Why Your Pitch Isn’t Landing Coverage.

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: My press trip invite do’s and don’ts. By the way, I crowdsourced these from a dozen travel writers for top-tier travel publications (Nat Geo, T+L, Condé Nast Traveler, Matador, Thrillist, Fodor’s, Hemispheres, etc.), and these were unanimous across the board!