Travel PR is a competitive marketplace with travel agencies, hotels, tour operators, airlines and even governments trying to promote what they have on offer, so you need to have a measured approach when it comes to publicising your holiday offerings and latest news.

Here are some DIY tips on handling PR for your travel business.

National newspaper travel supplements

Almost all of the national newspapers carry a travel supplement. These supplements will mainly focus on holiday breaks, and are a great place to showcase your range of holiday offerings.

It's a good idea to put a call into the editors of each page to introduce yourself and your company and ensure you have the right contact email address for any press release you wish to send through in the future.

Consider offering press trip places to journalists; a positive review of one of your breaks can work wonders for your sales figures. Journalists are more likely to be interested in breaks with a unique selling point or which tie in with the current news agenda or holiday trends of the moment, so think carefully about the best breaks to offer out to them.

Most of the newspapers also run a ‘Late deals' column. Consider submitting these on a weekly basis to the travel editors; if you're consistently sending through good content, they're more likely to feature one of your breaks.

Travel trade titles

Targeting the trade press is a great way of reaching your colleagues in the travel industry.

Many of the travel trade editors will be able to provide you with ‘forward features' lists that highlight what articles they are planning to write for each issue. Stay in regular contact with the travel trade journalists to ensure you have up to date info on submissions deadlines and you may be able to contribute to some of these features.

If you have any exciting news about developments within your company, this is the place to share it; submit any press releases about the company itself to the news page.

Other opportunities

Don't forget that you might also be able to get some coverage in other publications or areas of the newspapers – consumer magazines with occasionally run travel features, or there might be space for a story on your company on one of the personal finance pages of the newspapers.

Keep an eye out for opportunities in these less obvious places; you never know when a great chance to promote your business might crop up.