Pauline Frommer is creator of the Pauline Frommer guidebooks, a  series of 15 budget-oriented guides for travelers to the United States, Europe and Latin America. She has authored four of the guides and edits all the others.

One that doesn't bury the lede and gives all the necessary information. If you're trying to grab my attention by announcing that tour operator, hotel or cruise line X, Y, or Z is offering 50% discounts, I need to know, in the text of that press release, what the discount actually means (ie what is the dollar amount the consumer likely be paying). I will do the research if it seems like a deal I might want to cover, but I'll be aggravated not to have been given that information in an easily accessible fashion.

And I'll be really aggravated if it turns out that that headline was a total come-on, and not really backed up by the details of what follows (or the details I find when I do additional research). When I get too many of these types of press releases from a certain source, I'm much less likely to read that source's releases in the future, even if the client is a different one.

 Q:  What kinds of information are you looking for?

Announcements of openings are helpful. And we talk a lot about travel deals on my radio show, so I'm always looking for really unique, terrific bargains for consumers.

 Q:  What kind of information don't you want?

I don't need information on staffing changes. (Does anyone, beyond those few folks who are writing for industry insiders?). 

• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Twitter