We are Christina and Peter Pilarski, founders and leaders of CIPR Communications.
In our last episode, we talked about the value of tourism and the promotional campaigns designed to advocate for that value. In this episode, we move on to the first step in creating a Value of Tourism program. The fundamental directive at the earliest stage of planning one of these programs is: “Make no assumptions.”
It is quite natural for the people involved with a particular campaign to go into it with any number of assumptions about the project and about the feelings and opinions of their target audience. You may, for example, hold the belief that nobody in the community sees any value at all in tourism, while a bit of research may show that this is not at all the case. You may think that the voice of one small group within your community reflects the general opinion of that community – and there is no reason why this should be the case. If you start with that assumption, your entire campaign will be based on it – and a campaign predicated on inaccurate assumptions is unlikely to be successful. You have to be careful not to accept initial thoughts as given and build your campaign on them.
How to avoid basing your campaign on assumptions
Before you get started on your strategy, you need to take a step back and question your assumptions. Taking an objective view of your assumptions is not always easy to do, and this where it helps to seek the advice of public relations or marketing consultant, who can come in with an outsider’s perspective, ask the right questions and hopefully find the right answers.
Find out more about how to identify, question and correct your assumptions by listening to Series 6 of our podcast. For more information on the value of tourism, marketing strategies and public relations, read our blog, listen to our podcast or contact us.
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Christina Pilarski
Christina Pilarski is CEO and co-founder of CIPR Communications, a digital PR, marketing, and AI consulting agency serving hospitality, tourism, and luxury lifestyle brands across North America. Before starting CIPR in 2010 with her life partner and business partner, Peter Pilarski, Christina led campaigns in a series of corporate roles and served as Special Advisor to the Minister at Alberta's Department of Tourism, Parks and Recreation. She now leads a team of 20+ staff and contractors across CIPR and its AI-focused division, the Tourism AI Network. Christina holds a BA with Honours and an MA in Communications Studies from the University of Calgary. Outside the office, she's a mom of twins and two dogs, based in Calgary.
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Peter Pilarski
Peter Pilarski is the Founder of Tourism AI Network and President of CIPR Communications. He helps tourism and hospitality organizations adopt AI strategically — from AI search visibility and custom tool development to team training and executive advisory. He is a sought-after keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and AI advisor whose sessions blend practical frameworks with real-world results.
