As destination marketing organizations continue to place greater emphasis on monetizing their marketing efforts, generating editorial coverage and social media promotion from journalists and influencers remains one of the most efficient and cost effective ways to demonstrate significant ROI. We have always believed in the power of a proactive and sustained public relations effort as part of a broader marketing strategy, and we continue to shift marketing dollars into public relations for our DMO clients.

And if early returns are any indication, 2019 is off to a great start with regard to earned media for DVA’s destination clients thanks to two major editorial features in Sunset Magazine and Travel + Leisure.

Visit Walla Walla kicked things off with an 8-page “Tasting Wine, the Walla Walla Way” feature in the February issue of Travel + Leisure, resulting from wine editor Ray Isle’s visit that DVA pitched and coordinated for the fall of 2018. That story reached an audience of 969,266 subscribers and nearly 3.2 million unique visitors per month, with a value of $2.6 million.

Sunset followed suit, with a 10-page feature on the Santa Ynez Valley in the magazine’s Feb/Mar issue that reached an audience of 1,262,532 subscribers and more than 2 million unique visitors per month, with a value of more than $3 million. Titled “The heartland of Santa Barbara wine country is buzzing with new energy,” this feature was the result of Luke Sykora’s mid-2018 media visit also pitched and coordinated by DVA.

Combined, the two features reached more than 2 million subscribers and more than 5 million unique visitors per month, and generated more than $3.6 million in value.

You can find the full articles here:

Travel + Leisure – https://www.travelandleisure.com/food-drink/wine/walla-walla-washington-wine-region
Sunset – https://www.sunset.com/travel/california/santa-barbara-wine-country