Changing yet Staying the Same
People often ask me how a mother and her two daughters could survive in the travel industry for so many decades. Well, in our case it came naturally and the knowledge accumulated through the years provided perspective, a rich foundation and the courage to change.
Elizabeth Adams, now 93 and still writing, was the travel editor of Town & Country Magazine for 25 years before she started a business with her two daughters, Mary Elizabeth Wheelis and Martha Morano. We came from different disciplines: editorial, public relations and sales. We soon learned that all three strengths were absolutely necessary in building and sustaining a successful business.
We focused on hotels and began by creating a marketing company in the early 70s that offered sales, public relations and reservations. Being women, particularly then, it was a challenge. There were and still are very few women in hotel management. The field was dominated by men, especially in the European sector. At times it was hard to be taken seriously. We were a formidable female team, however, and tried not to take no for an answer. So, harnessing our various strengths, we signed up clients promising magazine placements, sales to agents and reservations. Before long, with only an archaic telex machine (i.e. pre faxes and computers), we began to send significant business overseas. This was the age of the hotel representation companies having bookings funneled through them and working primarily on commission. It really was a sweet deal for the hotels. They did not pay unless they received business. We did the leg work to get people there.
When in the late 70’s and early 80’s the fax machine arrived and email soon followed, we saw the writing on the wall. The desire to save on middlemen and commissions meant bookings would go directly to hotels. We were beginning to be cut out, our business was suffering and it was time to change.
So, we went back to basics and concentrated on our strengths. We knew that no matter how people received information that the rudiments of a good business stayed the same: have a message, get it out there and sell it to the right people. Without the commission, hotels would have to pay for the services we supply – public relations, sales and marketing. It was often a hard sell because our clients were used to paying on a commission only basis. Our environment at that time was still well defined. We would place articles in the print travel outlets, court the travel agents and wholesalers and design and distribute good brochures, etc. Slowly our client hotels saw the value of our services and our business once again grew.
Well then, here comes the internet and communication is on steroids. The marketing environment gets blown apart and it’s time to change once more. So, again, we go back to basics. The writer still must compose the message, the publicist must place the message in the correct venue and the seller has to find the buyer. We are still doing the same things but must adapt to how we get the message out and reach the right people. So my 93 year old mother is now writing on her computer and emailing attachments and my sister and I are twittering and facebooking. It could be daunting, but in reality we are doing the same thing but in a new way. All very invigorating!
Martha Adams Morano is the director of Morano Public Relations. She established the firm (originally called E&M Associates) 20 years ago with her partner Elizabeth Adams, now retired, who was travel director of Town& Country Magazine for 25 years. Morano Public Relations is a public relations and marketing firm, promoting destinations and hotels to travel agents, corporations, journalists, and the public. For nearly two decades, Ms. Morano as been working closely with clients to develop and implement a wide range of promotions in the realm of public relations, sales and advertising.
Before opening her own firm, Ms. Morano worked as the publicity and promotions director for New American Library, a division of Times Mirror. Her duties included designing promotional publicity campaigns for authors of newly published paperback books. She worked with writers such as Norman Mailer and Claudia Dreyfus and has been a member of The Society of American Travel Writers since 1983.
Mary Liz Wheelis now has a marketing company called Travel Marketing Solutions www.tvlmarketing.com and shares clients with Morano Public Relations and Elizabeth Adams is still writing the newsletter and releases for both companies.