Six California Media Outlets Every Travel Marketer Must Know
December 4, 2019 | By: Janelle McKinseyFinding the right story angle to pitch to the right travel media outlet is key for any destination, especially a large one like California. If you’re planning the best tourism campaigns in-state and are seeking desk-side appointments with the media that matter in California, here are six of the most influential travel media outlets for travel public relations professionals to pitch to in California and why.
Source:[Afar Magazine]
The AFAR brand includes the award-winning AFAR Magazine, AFAR.com, and immersive travel series, AFARM Experiences. Launched in August 2009, AFAR focuses on cultural immersion and exploration. Recognized for its use of vibrant and authentic travel photography, AFAR stories capture the architecture, food, history, culture, and eco-travel opportunities of a destination that are useful for launching best tourism campaigns.
Regular features include Arts and Culture Club, Grub, and Resident. What does coverage look like in AFAR? A recent guide to discovering a bit of Hollywood in Los Angeles published in AFAR’s Art and Culture section. The article combines stories of old Hollywood stars and glamour alongside places visitors can still eat, drink, and people watch. AFAR’s Where to Go Next section features the best reasons for visiting San Francisco in the fall.
Print Circulation: 286,362 (bi-monthly)
Online Circulation: 876,568 UVMs
Source:[San Francisco Chronicle]
The San Francisco Chronicle is the largest newspaper in northern California and the second largest in the western United States. It is a regional daily with a circulation that stretches from the Oregon border to Santa Barbara and includes Silicon Valley. Founded in 1865, the award-winning paper is available to subscribers via print, an e-edition, mobile app, and an iPad version. Like the Chronicle, the paper’s sister site, SFGATE also features a travel section. When combined, the San Francisco Chronicle and the SFGATE reach an estimated 300 million users each month.
The travel section of the Chronicle and SFGATE cover Oakland, Marin County, Sausalito, Santa Cruz, Lodi, and other California cities and counties. The paper’s reach as the second largest in the western United States makes this an attractive pitch option for any CVB wanting to attract the California market. Topics include wine, farm-to-table events, and family fun.
Gregory Thomas is the current travel editor of San Francisco Chronicle and has an affinity for topics like land use in the American West, the business of conservation, adventure sports, and quirky California. Quirky has been a win for many of DCI’s California Collective destination partners.
Print Circulation: 163,307 (daily)
Online Circulation: 840,770 UVMs
Source:[Los Angeles Times]
Los Angeles Times is a general interest daily newspaper that covers regional, national and international news. Los Angeles Times Online is the digital edition of the Los Angeles Times and covers news not only focusing on Southern California but also the country and the world. Story types range from features to breaking news and investigative pieces.
The travel section includes ideas for weekend getaways from the Los Angeles area and recent coverage includes Bend, Oregon, the Grand Canyon, and Jamestown, California. Topics include the great outdoors, family fun, seasonal events, and off-season travel ideas that support your best tourism campaigns.
The long-time travel editor of Los Angeles Times, Catharine Hamm has shared on numerous occasions that media-ready assets such as images and video are highly valued to their team. That’s something to consider when sending your next pitch!
Print Circulation: 417,936 (daily)
Online Circulation: 23,975,350 UVMs
Source:[Sunset Magazine]
Founded in 1898 and previously owned by Time, Inc., Sunset Magazine is published in five zoned monthly editions: Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Southern California, Southwest and Mountain. Designed as a regional lifestyle magazine, it focuses on living well in the western United States. The target audience is educated, affluent homeowners who lead active lives and who have an interest in cooking and taking great trips.
Stories focus on the four primary lifestyle categories: food, garden, home, and travel. Topics include outdoor recreation, indoor adventures, special events, and weekend getaways. Sunset Magazine focuses on travel destinations in the 13 western states. Recipes and menus that celebrate the West are also popular features.
Recent travel coverage in Sunset Magazine includes a Guide to Oakland, along with a story about weird and wonderful museums of the West. Stories featuring where to enjoy the best beer, wine, or hot air ballooning experiences are also common themes with Sunset Magazine.
DCI’s California Collective clients has learned invaluable lessons when pitching Sunset for placement in the “Our Perfect Day” feature. We’ve learned from former travel editor Luke Sykora that the trips must zero in on a city or geographical entity. In order to consider a destination for the article, it will have to be a single city and not an entire region because that can be a bit too expansive to work.
Print Circulation: 1,262,532 (monthly)
Online Circulation: 2,061,599 UVMs
Source:[Robb Report]
The Robb Report covers the luxury market with content highlighting exotic automobiles, boats, aircraft, upscale travel, sports, and other lifestyle topics geared toward affluent audiences. This media outlet contains editorial and amazing photography featuring automobiles, yachts, private aviation, real estate, fashion, jewelry, travel, and epicurean life.
Coverage of the Mondrian Los Angeles highlighted the $100,000 ICON package offered exclusively to guests of its penthouse suite. In addition to luxury hotels, the Robb Report includes information about luxury ski resorts, cooking experiences with top chefs, and more. Destinations featured can be any place around the world, making competition for coverage steep. Think top-of-the-line experiences for affluent audiences when pitching to the Robb Report for your tourism campaigns.
Through various conversations with Robb Report’s editorial staff we can tell that it is imperative to realize that the magazine covers affluent luxury in the traditional sense of the word: high price tags.
Print Circulation: 102,545 (monthly)
Online Circulation: 459,895 UVMs
Source:[Travel Age West Magazine]
Established in 1969, Travel Age West serves travel agencies, corporate travel agencies, tour operators, and home-based independents in the western United States. Highlights include product development in this target market and reports of consumer trends. Regular issue features include general industry news, western destination features important to agents, niche travel topics, and cruise news.
Travel Age West features recent articles about such California destinations as Yosemite National Park, Disneyland, and Lake Arrowhead. The magazine also has helpful industry information regarding new attractions, events, and changes to industry regulations.
Print Circulation: 21,000 (bi-weekly)
Online Circulation: 52,439 UVMs
About DCI
From press trips to media appointments, DCI has the experience necessary to generate editorial for your destination. If you need assistance in penetrating the West Coast media, especially if you are launching California tourism campaigns, connect with DCI. We work with all sizes of destinations in California. You can learn more about DCI’s California Collective program here.