How a 4-person DMO doubled its press coverage in a quarter.

The challenge

• Four-person comms team responsible for 240 hospitality, attraction and event partners.
• Partner news arrived through email, WhatsApp, a Google Form and a shared inbox, and was usually missed.
• Coverage was tracked manually in a spreadsheet that fell behind by week two of every quarter.
• Board pressure to demonstrate ROI on the destination levy was rising ahead of the 2026 funding cycle.

The approach

• Consolidated all partner intake into the Press Pilot Newsroom with a single branded submission form.
• Onboarded the in-house brand voice so AI drafts read like the team's own work in under fifteen minutes per release.
• Built a vetted media list of 86 UK travel-desk and regional contacts mapped to the destination's beats.
• Switched board reporting to a live dashboard, replacing the quarterly spreadsheet exercise.

The results

• Press coverage volume rose 2.1× quarter-on-quarter, with a 3× lift in tier-1 national travel mentions.
• The team reported 12 hours back per week, redirected into editorial planning and partner relationships.
• Board renewal pack produced in under an hour, against a previous turnaround of three working days.
• Two of the most active partner hotels asked to extend their levy contributions, citing the visibility uplift.