U.S. Travel Association Opens Online Press Room for 2011 San Francisco International Pow Wow

Powered by TravMedia, the global travel media service for industry journalists and communications professionals, the online press room houses press materials, photos, videos and foreign language releases for each Media Marketplace participant in a dedicated press center on the site.

This is the second year for the green initiative to eliminate paper waste and shipping costs associated with sharing press materials with journalists. Last year, more than half of the registered journalists used the online press room before the show opened, and the show’s press room password was utilized 880 times. In total, 75% of attending media utilized the portal to view the most current U.S. travel news. An added bonus, TravMedia also distributes the Media Marketplace participants’ material to its North America database of registered travel journalists.

“Having a single portal for all news, photos, videos and background information for U.S. travel stories relating to International Pow Wow is key to producing better stories about America’s travel opportunities,” says Nick Wayland, Founder and CEO of TravMedia. Wayland, a journalist when he created the concept of the online news distribution channel 11 years ago, was looking for a better way to connect with the people who help bring stories to life halfway around the world. TravMedia started in Australia, and today more than 18,000 travel journalists worldwide use TravMedia for information through offices in London, Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong, Dubai, Boston, New York, Phoenix and Frankfurt.

The U.S. Travel Association chose TravMedia because of its longstanding relationship of promoting U.S. travel, its versatility and technology, and its experience managing industry event press rooms in other countries. TravMedia is showcasing more new technology this year at the San Francisco show, called “Stories,” a portal for journalists to upload articles, post their travel schedules and allow suppliers to follow and connect with them.