Why Senior-Led PR Still Outperforms in Travel and Lifestyle
Most PR agencies follow the same model.
Senior people define the strategy, and junior teams handle the outreach. It's an efficient, scalable approach that works well for plenty of agencies.
At Roam Generation, we've simply chosen to do things differently. Not because the traditional model is wrong, but because we've built our team around a different philosophy — one shaped by the kind of work we do in travel and lifestyle PR. This difference in approach also shapes how visibility and credibility are built over time, particularly in the context of PR, AI, and the future of travel discovery.
For us, the work rewards judgment, worldly travels, timing, and people who actually understand the experience they're trying to sell.
I didn't come up through an agency system, so I didn't build Roam Generation that way. I built it based on what's worked best for our clients.
Built From Experience, Not Theory
Before starting Roam Generation, I wasn't sitting behind a desk in an agency.
I started the company while sailing halfway around the world. We crossed the Atlantic Ocean after living onboard for 18 months. That's it. Prior to that we were not sailors. That pretty much sums me up. Driven, determined and when I set my mind to something, I do it.
As a team, we've travelled to nearly 100 countries.
We've stayed in five-star hotels and remote jungle lodges. We've camped under desert stars, climbed mountain ridges, sailed through Nordic fjords, and watched turtles lay eggs on Caribbean beaches.
I don't say all of that as a flex. These experiences directly impact our work.
Because when you've actually experienced these places, you don't write pitches from a brief. You write them from a memory.
You understand what makes a place special, what makes it different, and what's actually worth talking about.
And that's what allows you to come up with story angles that feel original. This is also what underpins why PR is essential for travel, adventure and lifestyle brands that rely on strong, experience-led storytelling.
If you're an adventure brand, you want to be represented by people who understand that world, and in our case, a CEO who actually lives in it. If you're a tour operator, you want people who have spent time in your destinations. It's a particular kind of connection and experience, and one we've built our agency around.
Why Senior-Led Actually Matters
Senior-led PR isn't about hierarchy. It's about keeping experience close to the work.
We deliberately keep our teams small. The people shaping the strategy are the same people involved in the outreach.
That means fewer handovers, fewer gaps, and far less chance of things slipping through the cracks.
It also means better decisions.
Not every opportunity is worth chasing. Not every piece of coverage is the right fit. And knowing the difference comes down to experience. Over time, this level of judgment plays a key role in building consistent visibility and authority, as explored in what six months of consistent PR actually builds.
Relationships Built in the Real World
PR relationships aren't built through cold emails alone.
They're built over time, and often in real life.
I've had cocktails poolside in Singapore with a journalist I'd been emailing for years. I've jumped into a last-minute matcha experience with an editor in Japan. I've mountain biked down a mountain in Switzerland alongside journalists at ATWS. And next month, I'll be at AdventureElevate in Spain doing it all again.
These moments matter.
Because they turn emails into real relationships. And when there's a real relationship, there's context, trust, and a much better understanding of how to position a story in a way that actually lands.
PR is ultimately a people business, and those relationships are what drive the best results.
These types of relationships also influence how stories are positioned across different regions, something explored further in global PR for travel brands across international markets.
Experience That Translates Into Results
One of the clearest examples of this was securing a feature for Sailing Yacht Varg in TIME's World's Greatest Places.
That didn't come from a generic pitch.
It came from the client trusting us enough to bring us out to experience the yacht firsthand, and from a long-standing relationship with a journalist who trusted how we told that story.
That combination of experience and relationship is what led to the result.
This kind of outcome is rarely accidental. It reflects the compounding effect of experience, relationships, and credibility working together, similar to how earned media builds authority over time.
Cultural Fluency and Global Perspective
Travel PR is global by nature.
Our team is spread across different regions, and our clients span Bali, the US, South America, Norway, Australia, Italy and beyond.
That gives us a level of cultural awareness that's hard to replicate.
We're not approaching every market the same way. We understand how stories land differently depending on the audience, and we adjust accordingly.
Quality Over Volume
Our approach leans toward focus rather than activity.
Fewer pitches, but more considered ones. Stronger alignment with the publication. More thought behind each angle.
For the kind of clients we work with, we've found that one well-placed feature in the right publication tends to do more for a brand than a wider net cast less precisely.
Why Clients Stay
At the end of the day, the reason our clients stay isn't just results.
It's how we work.
We're level-headed. We communicate clearly. We do what we say we're going to do, and most importantly, we’re nice people who bring a smile to our calls. We love hearing about your adventures on the weekend or how your kid won a sports medal.
There's a level of maturity and reliability that comes from experience, and from the fact that this isn't just a job. It's our reputation.
And we're not willing to compromise that.
For brands looking to build this level of credibility, working with a team focused on travel and lifestyle public relations ensures that experience remains central to the process.
Conclusion
Senior-led PR isn’t about seniority for the sake of it.
It’s about experience shaping the work from start to finish.
It’s about understanding the industry you’re representing because you’ve actually lived it. It’s about knowing what’s worth saying, who to say it to, and when it’s actually going to land.
And in travel and lifestyle, that makes all the difference.
Because PR isn’t just about getting coverage.
It’s about building credibility, trust, and authority over time.
And that only happens when the people doing the work genuinely understand what they’re representing.
By Erin Carey
Erin Carey is the Founder and Director of Roam Generation, a boutique PR agency specialising in travel, adventure and lifestyle brands. She works with experiential companies across the US, UK and Australia to build authority through strategic earned media and thought leadership.
Roam Generation’s clients have been featured in publications including Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Forbes and National Geographic. In an era increasingly shaped by AI-driven search, Erin focuses on ensuring brands are not only visible, but trusted and cited where modern discovery happens.
