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A thought-provoking podcast for travel and hospitality industry insiders has been named as one of the finalists in the Low Budget Content Campaign of the Year category at the European Content Awards 2024. Travel Market Life – created and produced by marketing and PR agency Haynes Marcoms – covers topics as diverse as the digitalisation of travel and hospitality businesses, staff shortages, and changing traveller behaviours.
The podcast was established in 2020, but came into its own in 2023, building on the need for the industry to have better connections between hoteliers and technology suppliers. The team behind it created two distinct series formats to diversify the content launching Hotel Partner in 2023 which hosts a conversation between a supplier and a buyer, and followed up with Season 3 Hoteliers’ Voice which hears stories from the frontline of the hospitality industry.
The campaign promoting Travel Market Life and the programme’s fan base evolved organically, with the team at Haynes Marcoms involved in researching, producing, editing, and marketing each episode. Costs were kept minimal without sacrificing a high standard in audio production utilising the team’s talents as former radio producers (GWR, LBC and BBC), and publishing (Rough Guides).
Said Ryan Haynes, MD of Haynes Marcoms and podcast host and executive producer: “We know hoteliers and travel industry professionals work long hours and very rarely – if ever – do a typical ‘9 to 5’ day. Making Travel Market Life accessible on as many platforms as we could, plus each episode’s running length of around 30 minutes, is key in helping them engage with the podcast. They need to be able to listen at their own pace, often in bite-sized chunks, and access the podcast on the move.”
Its English-speaking audience is primarily based in the UK (22%), Europe (over 54%) and USA (27%) made up of senior leaders, managers and decision makers in travel and hospitality.
Boosted by organic marketing and referrals from panellists appearing on the podcast, as well as attending and hosting industry events, Travel Market Life’s thought-provoking content has been repurposed into written articles, appearing in top industry publications as well as receiving invitations to lead industry panel discussions and join other industry podcasts. Haynes Marcoms was also invited to host a takeover of the Social Business Space at the Independent Hotel Show London in October 2023.
Particular highlights of the past year include:
- Securing senior management from leading brands such as Virgin Hotels, Accor, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
- Promoting gender balance: the podcast featured 26% of guests were female compared to just 10% of senior hospitality leaders being female, and the average event spokespeople ratio of 22% female (according to the Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership 2022 report)
- Building a pipeline for Haynes Marcomms’ agency business with ten new qualified sales leads and two new clients (as of 1 December 2023).
- Growing the monthly audience by well over 220%
Travel Market Life has proven itself able to connect hoteliers and travel professionals with technology and industry suppliers, and provide a stimulating conversation for all within the travel and hospitality industry.
Reviewing the performance of 2023 listeners, there were some stand out episodes that drew the attention of a growing audience. The most listened episode explore cyber security – Where security lies embedded in the guest journey with Dhiraj “DJ” Singh, followed by the newly launched series on the podcast Hotel Partner: How Louvre Hotels uses Robotic Process Automation, and with AI clearly being the topic of 2023 the episode ethics of AI in Travel and Hospitality experiences garnered a lot of interest.
LinkedIn was a key channel for reaching the intended audience with particular episodes resonating with the Travel Market Life and extended network, in particular How Real Hotel Group Uses Technology for the Guest Journey – a discussion on how to choose the right technologies to maximise revenue and understand business performance.
“We created Travel Market Life to fill a void in the hospitality industry,” said Haynes. ”To be named a finalist at the European Content Awards 2024, alongside larger agencies and big companies is a great accomplishment, but we’re not resting on our laurels. There’s more to come from the TML team!”
Expanding the Travel Market Life brand, Haynes Marcoms launched the Travel Monthly Review Show in January 2024, with insights provided by industry experts such as Will Plummer (Trust My Group), Claire Steiner (the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership) and James Clarke (Travelzoo), and in February will launch the Hospitality Monthly Review Show. The regular panellists are quizzed on recent news and events related to their industry, with a healthy dose of competition as they strive to claim the month’s top spot in Best of 5.
Discover more about Travel Market Life at www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life or LinkedIn. You can also download the latest episodes of Travel Market Life on Apple podcasts, Buzzsprout or Spotify.
