Reporting to the Travel Media Manager, the Specialist, Travel Media Relations is responsible for maximizing earned travel media opportunities in established priority markets, building destination awareness to drive incremental visitation and spend in Calgary.
An expert at uncovering compelling, newsworthy and trend-driven destination stories, the successful candidate will proactively develop pitches, cultivate media relationships and secure earned coverage in key Canadian and U.S. markets.
Focused on strengthening Tourism Calgary's proactive earned media efforts, this role will also support secondary leisure market opportunities and take on additional markets as they become established.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Proactive Pitch Development and Media Relations
- Stay informed about travel trends, target outlets and editorial opportunities to identify compelling, newsworthy destination stories.
- Collaborate with Tourism Calgary partners to uncover unique destination experiences and develop new, trend-driven leisure media pitches.
- Lead proactive earned travel media pitch development and outreach in priority Canadian and U.S. markets. Some travel to media marketplaces will be required.
- Build and maintain relationships with targeted travel broadcast productions, editors and freelancers to grow high-quality earned media coverage.
- Develop earned travel media newsletter content and grow reach and engagement.
Market Media Relations
- Maximize earned media opportunities in established Canadian and U.S. leisure markets through proactive outreach, relationship development and responding to media requests such as contacts and images.
- Support partners Travel Alberta and Destination Canada on secondary leisure market earned travel media opportunities in Germany and France.
- Take over media relations as markets become established, working collaboratively with the Travel Media team.
Media Hosting
- Proactively identify, vet and host targeted leisure travel media in Canadian and U.S. markets in alignment with the earned travel media strategy.
- Develop and coordinate logistics for customized media itineraries and hosted experiences that showcase Calgary's unique destination stories.
- Lead and support individual and group media familiarization (FAM) visits in collaboration with tourism partners and the broader team.
- Maintain relationships with hosted media, providing ongoing story support and follow-ups to maximize earned coverage opportunities.
Media Monitoring, Reporting and Tools
- Lead the use and optimization of Meltwater and Travefy, including team training updates, process improvements and reporting support.
- Monitor earned travel media coverage and evaluate performance and impact using Media Quality Scoring and established KPIs.
- Measure earned media effectiveness, identify key insights and make recommendations based on results.
- Maintain accurate media records and support consistent tracking and reporting across the team.
- Work within assigned budgets and provide regular updates.
Collaboration
- Execute earned travel media strategies as directed by the Travel Media Manager and in alignment with Tourism Calgary's priority markets.
- Work closely with the team to share destination stories, media intelligence, pitching opportunities and hosting responsibilities.
- Connect regularly with Marketing teams to share destination story opportunities more broadly such as through owned social media channels and through paid efforts.
- Engage regularly with tourism partners to identify new experiences, provide earned media training and hosting opportunities.
- Provide relevant earned travel media updates to internal teams and partners, including media coverage and KPIs, as needed.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in media relations or public relations is required.
- Strong writing and storytelling skills with demonstrated experience developing compelling media pitches and securing earned media coverage.
- A strong understanding of media trends and the ability to identify unique, newsworthy story angles.
- Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with demonstrated success building and maintaining strong media and partner relationships.
- Proactive self-starter who takes initiative and demonstrates strong organizational skills to manage tight deadlines, budgets and multiple priorities.
- Experience with software platforms (Airtable, Meltwater, Travefy) an asset.
- Knowledge of Calgary and tourism industry preferred.
- University degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing or related discipline or equivalent professional experience.
- Ability to work flexible hours occasionally.
Living Our Values in This Role
- Think Boldly: We bring curiosity, fresh thinking, and the courage to question assumptions, put ideas forward early, and explore better ways of working with a focus on progress and possibility.
- Care Deeply: We show up with presence, pride, and accountability by listening, supporting others, caring about quality and impact, and having honest conversations that strengthen outcomes.
- Act Together: We collaborate across teams, communicate openly, follow through on commitments, and take shared ownership to create clarity and move work forward together.
- Inspire Possibility: We step forward with initiative, optimism, and energy, celebrate progress and wins, and help others see what’s possible for our work and our city.
Working Conditions
- This is a hybrid home-office role requiring on-site presence at the Tourism Calgary downtown office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
- Mondays and Fridays are optional work-from-home days, though in-office attendance may be required to support business and meeting needs.
- This role requires occasional evening or weekend work, including the requirement to travel to media marketplaces and other business events, and to be present on-site for local hosting as dictated by business needs.
- Laptop and cellphone will be provided by Tourism Calgary.
Tourism Calgary values diversity of expertise, talent and opinion which creates an innovative and collaborative environment. We are committed to a respectful and inclusive workplace and welcome applications from all qualified individuals.
Only applicants selected for interview will be contacted.
