Pitch to Primetime: How Destinations Can Land TV Placements

Television exposure still matters for destinations. Whether it’s a spot on a traditional network news program or a feature on a streaming platform, the medium invites people to feel a place immediately. It makes a destination feel current and credible.

The key is understanding the different kinds of television opportunities out there, from earned interviews to paid production partnerships, and shaping story ideas that fit each format. 

The smartest destination marketing pros don’t wait for producers and hosts to discover them. They create reasons to be seen.

1. Talking Heads: Business TV and Civic Leadership

Business television offers a powerful platform when your destination has a story about growth, investment or momentum. These are opportunities to invite your mayor, governor, economic development leader, airport executive or tourism CEO to serve as the spokesperson, providing the storytellers that producers seek. 

Consider downtown revitalization or sports tourism growth angles to entice bookers. If local spots will serve as film locations or if there’s a unique approach to talent attraction, lean into it. Major events and massive public-private investments also provide news hooks.

Why this benefits your DMO:

Business TV looks for economic relevance. A destination can use this format to explain why visitor growth matters to jobs, real estate, meetings and quality of life. Keep spokespeople in their lane for these opportunities, and avoid pitching the mayor to talk about leisure or attractions when they should be discussing investment and growth.

2. Big Bets: Partnering With Unscripted Shows

Major unscripted programs build powerful TV exposure. Episodes or entire seasons can pivot around a destination on shows like The Bachelorette, Amazing Race and other competitions. Kids from the 1990s will remember the thrill of visiting a city where MTV’s The Real World filmed.

Top Chef: Destination Canada, for example, was produced with Destination Canada, alongside provincial and city tourism partners. The partnership bolstered awareness of the country’s chefs and food traditions. Bringing production crews requires money, incentives, production support, permits and partner coordination, but the long-term benefits go beyond short-term investments.

Why this benefits your DMO:

A partnership for unscripted shows offers unlimited possibilities to negotiate how your destination will be named, how many locations will be featured, and which partners will gain visibility. By providing incentives, you play a role in the production. The bigger challenge is converting that awareness into travel action, which requires a solid plan upfront.

3. National Morning Show Moments: Live or Recorded Segments

National morning shows are a strong fit for destinations because they need timely, visual, upbeat content. They also speak to consumers nationwide who are open to more seasonal or light-hearted travel inspiration.

Visit Tulsa activated this potential when NBC’s 3rd Hour of TODAY broadcast live from Tulsa’s Guthrie Green stage. Anchors Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer joined a live audience to discuss the city’s food and music scene, elevating the destination on a national level. 

Opportunities can be as small as a live weather report from the destination or a family travel segment. Tie it into seasonal happenings with holiday previews, winter getaway features, or upcoming events. And if your destination is feeding any growing trends, engage a travel expert to discuss it.

Why this benefits your DMO:

Morning TV is built for quick emotional connection. A destination needs a simple hook, great visuals and an energetic spokesperson. Seasonal destinations, drive-market escapes and culinary experiences play the best on these morning shows, when viewers are looking for easy content to fuel them through their morning.

4. Public Television: Slower, Deeper Storytelling

PBS and public television travel shows are valuable for destinations with layered stories and strong local characters. Series like Samantha Brown’s Places to Love and Weekends with Yankee slow down the storytelling. Local PBS travel shows such as Destination Maryland or Road Trip Iowa bring hyper-local content to audiences.

These shows are less about quick spectacle and more about people, place, history, culture and community. They’re not looking for big, flashy stories, but rather deep, earnest ones.

Why this benefits your DMO:

These shows offer a strong fit for destinations that want to demonstrate depth rather than just attractions. Pitch heritage angles, cultural stories, historic places and conservation pieces that allow the hosts to dig deeper into your destination. The most important part of these pitches is to highlight the people who make the place meaningful.

5. Regional Morning Shows: Cooking Segments, Easy Wins

Smaller destinations can access regional morning shows as a more feasible entry point to television coverage. Cooking segments work well, especially when a destination sends a chef, mixologist, baker or food personality into a target market.

Demonstrate a signature regional dish or prepare a favorite local dessert to get your destination’s name on screen. It’s a chance to preview a local seasonal menu at a top hotel or highlight a culinary festival in the future that audiences can latch onto.

When Thai Fest came to the Windy City, the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Chicago office offered an Iron Chef Thailand winner to perform cooking demos for local stations. He did a spot on NBC 5 Chicago, garnering nearly 1.15 million broadcast impressions, showcasing the destination directly to target audiences of TAT’s Chicago Office.

Why this benefits your DMO:

Food gives television practical and sensory content. Plus, every potential traveler needs it. These shows give the destination a reason to be in-market without making the segment feel like an advertisement. A culinary-themed pitch should showcase a chef or local food icon and demonstrate to travelers why they need to come and sample it.

How to Decide the Right TV Path

By thinking beyond traditional travel shows, reach new, diverse audiences with stories filtered through the lens of your destination. Ultimately, destinations should choose the TV strategy based on their goals, budget and story strength. Ask yourself if you:

• Need credibility with investors? Pursue business TV.
• Need broad consumer awareness? Consider major unscripted partnerships.
• Need timely seasonal visibility? Pitch morning shows.
• Need deeper storytelling? Explore PBS and public television.
• Need culinary coverage? Focus on cooking segments and food TV.
• Need to reach new audiences? Look beyond traditional travel shows.

It’s not just about getting on TV. Destinations need to use TV to make their community feel relevant, memorable and worth visiting.

Looking to spread your messaging more strategically across television platforms? Get in touch with Karyl Leigh Barnes at Karyl.Barnes@aboutdci.com to learn more about DCI’s destination marketing prowess.