The challenge set for us by the Barceló Hotel Group was to communicate the opening of the group’s flagship hotel in Portugal, in this case the Barceló Funchal Oldtown.
Initially, we sent out a press release to regional and national tourism and lifestyle media to announce the soft opening at the end of March.
To create awareness and put the hotel at the top of the national public’s mind, a presstrip was carried out with travel, tourism and lifestyle media (Boa Cama, Boa Mesa, Evasões, Visão, Volta ao Mundo, Villas & Golf and Público Fugas) who, as well as getting to know the hotel first-hand, were impacted with a program of visits and activities to “absorb” the local culture: the Farmers’ Market, Bordal (Madeiran Embroidery Factory) and Monte Palace Madeira were some of the sights visited on this presstrip.
At the same time, there were some corporate interviews (Jornal de Negócios, Jornal Económico, TSF – Negócios e Empresas and Publituris) with the director of the Barceló Hotel Group for the European, Middle Eastern and Asian markets, to talk about this opening and to reveal the group’s expansion plan in the Portuguese market.
This action ended with an event in September, to mark the official opening of the Barceló Funchal Oldtown, with a press call from national and regional media, and face-to-face interviews with the co-CEO of the hotel group.
