Public Relations Services

The Vendor is required to provide strategic public relations leadership and support County.
- Develop a strategic plan and creative strategy for a 24-month period, including support in the following arears:
•    Active soft adventure (national/state parks, hiking, fishing, etc.)
•    Cultural and historic sites
•    Agribusiness and agritourism
•    "Steins, vines, and moonshine" craft beverage trail
•    Entertainment, arts and culture
•    Sports marketing/sales
•    International marketing/sales
•    Lodging offerings
•    Destination development
•    Website initiatives within the current platform
•    Lead the development and execution of an annual pitch schedule featuring innovative story ideas.
•    Collaborate with the department of economic development and tourism to develop key performance indicators (KPIS) and assess the effectiveness of the county public relations program based on the agreed-upon measurements.
- Media Relations with a National Focus
•    Lead all proactive national, international, and travel-trade media outreach on behalf of county to drive destination awareness, leisure travel demand, and overnight visitation.
•    Develop destination-forward press materials including national press kits, media alerts, press releases, talking points, fact sheets, and media briefing documents tailored to travel, lifestyle, outdoor, culinary, and sports tourism media.
•    Proactively pitch national editorial calendars and emerging travel trends, identifying timely seasonal, experiential, and thematic story opportunities throughout the year.
•    Vet and manage out-of-region, national, and international media inquiries to ensure alignment with county destination marketing priorities, while collaborating with the debt marketing & communications team on local and regional tourism-related stories.
•    Facilitate national media visits, interviews, and hosted experiences, connecting vetted journalists with county staff and tourism partners for immersive storytelling and itinerary development.
- Content Creation and Distribution
•    Create and deploy compelling, travel-inspiring media content that positions county as a competitive leisure destination.
•    Align earned-media messaging with county campaigns, site development initiatives, and experience launches, ensuring brand consistency across storytelling.
•    Develop tourism-specific content for use across press outreach and national promotion, including story ideas, destination backgrounds, itinerary concepts, press releases, and campaign messaging.
•    Identify and manage national and industry-specific distribution channels such as tourism newswires, trade shows, travel-trade networks, and targeted media lists.
•    Translate tourism momentum into value-driven storytelling for non-media audiences, including community stakeholders, hospitality partners, and public officials—highlighting visitation impact, destination growth, and tourism return on investment (ROI).
- Measurement and Reporting
•    The PR partner shall use the tourism master plan (currently in progress) to develop a long-range strategy and key objectives.
•    Monitor and track coverage across local, regional, and national media outlets, including qualitative scoring.
•    Provide monthly PR reports highlighting media outreach and pitch status, key messages, story development, coverage results, qualitative scores, alignment of coverage based on targeting, prospective and hosted media.
•    Provide assistance and recommendations on future public relations budget planning, including suggestions for any software needed to implement and track the established KPIS.
•    Provide media clipping service with a searchable archive.