As the stables behind Grand National winner Mon Mome still celebrate, recent research has suggested that one in five Brits are holidaying at home this year.  If that's the case, who are going to be the successful runners and riders and who's going to be left in the stalls?

The effect of the credit crunch on travel and tourism PR has been evidenced in a big swing towards British-focused features on national travel pages.  Catapult PR has capitalised fully on this, on behalf of its tourism and travel clients, and has already achieved double figures when it comes to national travel articles generated in relation to Easter 2009 - and we haven't even reached the Easter weekend yet!

Tourism attractions wanting to succeed during this economic climate need to broaden their vision and look beyond advertising.  Getting more bangs for their bucks is one benefit they can derive from PR, but they tourism attractions can also use PR to directly impact on visitor numbers.  Press are hungry for British travel news and what people read in the media has a third party endorsement factor that advertising simply cannot buy.  If tourism attractions, destinations, heritage homes and hotels and guest houses aren't using PR, they should be asking themselves why.

On this note, many might say that PR is too expensive and agencies cost the earth.  The answer to that has to be 'shop around'.  Gone are the days when London agencies ruled the roost and could convince tourism businesses that the only way to productive PR was to hire an agency with a city postcode.  The age of email and internet communication means you can access quality PR within the regions.  How many other agencies generated as much Easter travel coverage for their clients as Catapult PR?  Probably very few, if any.  And where is Catapult PR based - near Blackpool, in Lancashire.

It's a time to not let the recession blinker vision when it comes to PR.  There is still money to spend, as evidenced by one of Catapult PR's clients this week, whose farm tourism attraction was packed out with families wanting to experience the best of British travel and tourism.  The power of PR was evidenced in ticket sales, in feedback and in press interest.

If you are a tourism or travel business that still isn't reaping the benefits of PR, think long and hard.  It could be you making the headlines on the national travel pages and by not acting, you are potentially letting someone else steal your thunder!