OPINION

Locked doors: is the influencer influenza killing hotel PR?

Why extracting information for discerning travellers is like pulling teeth. It’s all smoke and mirrors and the media is caught between PR divas and assorted information roadblocks.

by Vijay Verghese/ Editor

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The media is encountering more roadblocks and locked doors in its search for news and information as public relations gets taken over by 'influencers' seemingly more intent on pushing their own personal brands over their hotels.

FOR those who think public relations is worthless fluff it is worth revisiting the heady Eighties when some larger-than-life grande dames strode the stage, breathing fire and keeping the press corps in line with a heady mix of charm, alcohol-laced wit and erudition. They spoke articulately on a range of subjects, listened, and weighed in on things. Brimming with poise and panache they were the titanosaurs of the time and we followed meekly and appreciatively in their wake.

I encountered several of these impressive ladies on my introduction to the mysterious East, first in Bangkok and then in Hong Kong and Singapore. At glittering dos they resembled the Spanish armada in full sail, imperious, and imposing. Some took pity on me — a stick-thin Indian hungrily eyeing the buffet — and stuffed me within an inch of my life.

A few of these ladies simply elected to be my champion. “Your editor is a pig,” said one bluntly, in a disconcerting stab at camaraderie. My eyes must have widened in fear. My editor and I were on excellent terms but the good lady had decided to throw her weight behind me. It was an oddly warm, if unsettling, gesture. It is hard to forget people like that.

Sure enough, they became a part of my life and provided a constant stream of excellent information and amusement. One call from the press was enough to get through to the GM or get the entire communications team to turn on a dime to meet a magazine deadline. It was a symbiosis that benefitted both parties.

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The unruffled self-confidence of these ladies — and yes, there was nary a male among them save for in South Korea or Japan — ensured access was always available and no question was too complicated or too trivial. This was the experience of most pressmen of my generation. It is a subject we still talk about because there is a mystery attached to this tale.

{"I too am guilty of distraction by clips of flaxen-haired divas leaning perilously out of trains for a selfie and posing atop death-defying crags...

Some of these big-swilling-big-swinging legends survived well into the Twilight Twenties and then, suddenly, they were gone, seemingly extinct, replaced by the posing and pouting ‘illiterati’ with nimble selfie fingers. News dwindled to a trickle and PRs pleaded the fifth. General managers, accorded the mantle of God, were not to be disturbed. Hotel spokespersons disappeared. And impromptu drop-ins to say hello over a quick tea became strictly verboten.

A few brave newcomers have tried to arrest the change but the world has shifted gear. Proud property heritage has morphed into privileged PR parties with five friends. The question is, to whose benefit? There’s nothing wrong with a popular diva if the brand message gets through. Yet far too many would appear to be exclusively focused on their online followers and personal brand — a nice CV exercise — to the detriment of their hotel.

I have often brought this up with senior friends in the industry. “Our PR Director was formerly with Dior,” said one perplexed hotel general manager. “We now hire from fashion houses to get a bit of class,” said another. They all assumed they had acquired a superior product. But did their hires go through sufficient hotel training? It often seemed they had simply imported their haute couture ways to the hospitality business.

Many hotels also outsource their public relations to massive PR companies halfway around the world. When we asked one Hong Kong hotel about certain room features we were referred to some behemoth in London. This seemed odd as our offices were around the block and a short walk and inspection would have done the trick. London eventually replied: “Let us check with Hong Kong and get back.” They never did.

Similarly, on a cruise report our queries were shunted to Sydney. The information never arrived despite repeated calls. The cruise line later wrote in to ask why they were not featured in the article. “Well, that ship has sailed,” we informed them wryly.

Public relations — an art at its best — has been replaced by “influencers”, a nonsense term that pooh-poohs the hard work put in by earlier professionals. It also belittles mainstream newspapers and magazines that actually sift, critically appraise and edit information before delivery in an elegant and coherent fashion. The fourth estate has changed world history and opinion. It is the real influencer.  

Of course media spans a broad spectrum from tabloid gobbledegook — “Mum on veggie diet gives birth to green baby” — to serious. When TIME magazine names someone the person of the year it carries weight.

A disappearing PR interface affects many. Travellers need reliable information. Not random ‘paid’ influencer hype, though I confess I too am guilty of being distracted by clips of flaxen-haired divas leaning perilously out of trains for a selfie and posing atop death-defying crags. Their parents should step in before someone gets killed.

Fortunately there are amazing exceptions when it comes to younger communicators at hotels and one is taken aback by their boundless energy and enthusiasm. Possibly a few will stay long enough to emerge as a new breed of titanosaur and things will have come fittingly full circle. Have a Happy Christmas and a tremendous New Year.