Celebrating World Tourism Day - When environment affects public relations

Hey all,

This particular blog is about understanding public relations from an entirely human perspective, letting professions diverge from face-to-face conversations and the spread of knowledge from generations to generations.  I would personally summarise Saturday 27/02/2016 in just four words “seeing with the ears”. To celebrate the International Tourist Guide Odigos invited over guests from the tourism industry namely DMC managers to give them a glimpse of the roles and responsibilities of the tourist guide during a preplanned excursion. Their reaction was far beyond expectation as they got carried away by the high level of professionalism of our guide Mike who embraced the role of an educator, historian and geologist. Excursions are quite often sold as sightseeing tours but Odigos dares to tickle all of the five senses of the individual thus laying emphasis on more than just the Visuals. 

In boosting the tourism profile, there is the need to align the activities with the expectations of the locals, strengthening relationship building at the grassroots level. Synergism could be achieved if the activities of the industry will be coordinated with other industrial activities (e.g. car rentals, hotel services, etc). Further, what is increasingly an issue is the ethicality of the travel and tourism sector. Green business practices, for instance, are widely regulated within the travel and tourism industry.  For instance on this particular day to celebrate World Tourism Day, Odigos had opted to gather its publics into an utterly green environment by choosing the coastal theme.  Setting up a brunch (breakfast-lunch) in the South of the island, and allowing business partners to fancy summer meals near the blue lagoons, helped shaped a positive and down-to-earth image on the company, detaching itself from the monotony of office walls.   

Could you visualize yourself exerting a public relations' role in slippers on the beach? Well I did for a day, in order to ensure I keep a low profile and adhering to the dress code of the company.  After all, who would wear high heels on the fine white sands on a tropical island!

Regards,

Karishma Shanto

A taste of Corporate Public Relations: The CSR in CPR

Hi Everyone! So here i am reflecting on my on-going internship placement at Interhill Group of Companies (a property developer and timber producer). My placement began in March and will end on the 31st of June.

First and foremost, I feel nothing but gratefulness to Interhill's CSR Department for giving me this opportunity. With this i extend my thanks to Interhill's CSR Manager and my supervisor Miss Angelyna and fellow intern June for teaching and guiding me through this experience.

Corporate Public Relations to my understanding is the maintaining of the relationship of a corporate organization with their various stakeholders.In my case, the stakeholders that i dealt directly with were Interhill employees and the children from Interhill's After School Project (ASP). In dealing with these two stakeholders, I've been exposed to handling internal communication and corporate social responsibility. Both stakeholders were a joy to interact with and working with the children was especially rewarding.

As I've stated in the first paragraph, Interhill is involved in a competitive and challenging industry that makes internal communication and CSR seem like mundane aspects to consider. In a corporate setting, there is a danger to overlook these aspects, thus I believe a CSR department should exist as an advocate to safeguard the importance of these and other aspects that may usually be set aside.

I have been taught that public relations should be utilized on more than a tactical level, going beyond maintaining public image and PR stunts but rather genuinely investing in stakeholder relationships to build long lasting trust. Sadly, this may not be the case for most organizations as public relations has yet to secure its well deserved place within the management.

Despite various challenges and limitations, Interhill's CSR department is taking its responsibility seriously by strengthening the company's commitment to its stakeholders. My placement allowed me to witness and be a part of the fulfilling of that commitment. By planning employee relations events, such as International Women's Day Muay Tai collaboration with Top Dog Factory, the department strove to empower women employees. By committing to the ASP the department does not forsake the needs of others.

To conclude my reflection, public relations should bring a human touch to a company, without it a corporation will seem like an inhuman entity.

Daphne Margaret Jolly
17895620/7E4A2937
Curtin Sarawak Campus