A hotel can run an excellent international PR campaign and still remain almost invisible in the Italian media. It happens more often than you might think, and rarely because the property itself lacks a strong story.
More often, the problem is that Italy is treated as little more than another language version of a campaign created for a different market. A press release that worked in London or New York is translated into Italian, sent to a list of journalists, and silence follows.
For an international hotel, Italy is not simply a translated version of another market. It has its own media landscape, travel patterns, editorial rhythms and ways of building desire around a destination. In this article, I explain what it actually takes to approach the Italian media credibly, how a local PR specialist can work alongside the structures a hotel already has in place, and when the most useful advice may be that Italy should not yet be a priority.
Can an international hotel appoint a PR specialist for the Italian market only?
Yes, and in many cases it is the most efficient way to work.
A hotel based outside Italy can appoint a specialist specifically to manage Italian media relations while leaving its existing communications structure entirely unchanged in its home market. There is no need to replace an international agency or restructure an in-house team. What you are adding is local expertise: someone who understands how Italian journalists work and what makes a story relevant to Italian travellers.
This model is particularly well suited to certain types of property. In my work, the strongest fit tends to be independent hotels with a distinctive story to tell, generally from the four-star level upwards, small independent hotel groups and luxury properties, which usually offer several possible editorial narratives.
A large chain property with hundreds of rooms and communications managed simultaneously across multiple markets is a different proposition. That type of organisation often requires the infrastructure of a larger agency network rather than a single senior consultant.
The most useful question at the outset is therefore not simply, “Can we do PR in Italy?”, but “Why Italy?”
A dedicated Italian PR brief makes sense when there is a clear commercial or reputational reason to develop the market: greater awareness and positioning among Italian travellers, stronger credibility through respected Italian media, and access to higher-spending audiences who continue to build trust and travel desire through authoritative travel, lifestyle and specialist publications.
When the objective is clear, the work has direction. Without that clarity, even extensive media coverage may fail to deliver meaningful value.
Why translating an international press release is not enough
Translation changes the language. Localisation changes the story.
They are two very different things, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes I see when an international hotel approaches the Italian market.
A press release created for an English-speaking audience, for example, may place considerable emphasis on facts, figures, rankings or the physical specifications of a property. In my experience, many Italian publications respond more strongly when those facts are accompanied by a narrative capable of making the experience desirable.
Place, people, food, culture and way of life often become part of the story rather than supporting details around it. Numbers still matter, of course, but simply transferring the same hierarchy of information from one market to another does not always create editorial interest.
Language is only part of the equation. Italian travel journalism has its own vocabulary, cultural references, editorial habits and evolving areas of interest.
Localisation therefore means rebuilding the story within that context rather than transferring it word for word.
What does it actually mean to localise a hotel story for Italy?
It means starting with the Italian traveller.
What are they looking for? What is happening in the market at that particular moment? How and where are they spending? Which Italian airports offer realistic access to the destination? What direct connections exist? Which types of trip are gaining attention?
From there, I identify different editorial angles according to what the hotel can genuinely offer. There is little value in developing a gastronomy story around a hotel without a meaningful restaurant proposition, or positioning a property around wellness when there is no substantial wellness experience behind the claim.
In practice, there is no single story that should simply be sent to everyone.
I develop different approaches for different groups of media, retaining a consistent narrative at the centre while adjusting the angle and editorial hook.
One of the strongest hooks often comes from the intersection between what the property genuinely is and a wider cultural moment that is already gaining relevance in Italy.
For Moyseion in Matera, for example, I developed communications around Nékyia, a performance inspired by Book XI of Homer’s Odyssey, at a time when the theme itself was returning to wider cultural attention through an upcoming cinematic interpretation of the Odyssey. The property had no connection with the film, but that wider cultural moment created a timely editorial reason to tell the story.
I developed this ability to localise international brands before specialising exclusively in hospitality.
During my time at FOREO, I also worked on communicating the products, initiatives and storytelling of an international Swedish brand to Italian consumers and media. The sector was different, but the underlying work was remarkably similar: understanding the identity of an international brand and making it relevant to Italy without diluting or distorting what made it distinctive.
It is the same principle I now apply to hotels.
What makes an international hotel relevant to Italian media?
The fundamentals are the same as for any hotel seeking earned media coverage: there needs to be something genuinely distinctive, a reason to talk about it now, and people or ideas capable of giving the project depth.
I have explored those principles separately in my article on what makes a hotel genuinely interesting to journalists, so I will not repeat them here.
For an international hotel, however, another layer becomes important: relevance to the Italian traveller.
An Italian publication is more likely to cover an international destination when there is a meaningful bridge between that destination and its readers.
That bridge may be accessibility: a new direct flight, a convenient connection or an improvement in transport that turns a destination from aspirational into realistically bookable.
It may be a subject already attracting attention, from wellness to food, culture or design.
Or it may simply be that Italian travellers are increasingly looking towards that particular country or region.
The scale of the Italian outbound market makes that audience commercially relevant. According to the Bank of Italy, expenditure by Italian travellers abroad increased by 3.2% in nominal terms and 6.2% in real terms in 2025, supported in part by the appreciation of the euro and its effect on travel costs outside the euro area.
For an international hotel, Italy is therefore not an abstract source market. It represents travellers who already spend abroad and whose consideration set can be influenced well before they book.
Which Italian media are relevant for an international hotel?
There is no universal media list, and I am cautious of anyone who suggests otherwise.
The right publications depend on the property, its positioning, its average rate, its story and the audience it ultimately wants to reach.
A luxury hotel may naturally lend itself to high-end travel and lifestyle titles. A design-led property may have a credible story for architecture and interiors publications. A hotel with a genuinely distinctive food proposition may belong in an entirely different editorial conversation.
My criterion is not prestige for its own sake. It is the match between story, publication and reader.
A famous publication reaching the wrong audience can be less valuable than a more specialised title whose readership is perfectly aligned with the hotel. In some cases, specialist coverage can also lead to partnerships and wider industry opportunities rather than simply generating an article.
I therefore work across different media families – travel, lifestyle, design, food and wine, wellness, weddings, business and hospitality trade – and ask the same question for each: does this particular story genuinely belong in front of these readers?
There is also an editorial sensibility that matters.
In my experience, Italian publications often respond well to stories that move beyond the mechanics of a holiday and convey an experience worth entering into: the relationship with place, the people behind the property, local culture, food and the particular way a destination is lived.
When those elements are authentic rather than manufactured, they can make an international hotel significantly more compelling editorially.
What language should press kits and media materials be in?
For the Italian market, I prefer journalists to have comprehensive materials available in Italian.
That does not mean Italian editors are unable to work from an international press kit in English. Many can and do. The advantage is instead about reducing friction: providing information that has already been localised makes a journalist’s work easier and makes the story more immediately usable.
A hotel can send me source materials in English, French or another language. I can then work from them to create an Italian press kit and supporting materials designed around the needs of the local media market.
The level of involvement I ask from an international property is essentially the same as I would ask from an Italian client.
I need to understand the hotel properly: its ambitions, what works, what does not, the people behind it and, above all, the answer to a question I ask every client:
What genuinely makes you different?
From there, I can match the property’s identity with the editorial interests of the Italian media and build the stories and materials around that intersection.
The methodology does not change simply because the hotel is abroad. What changes is that the original information arrives from a different linguistic and cultural context and needs to be translated culturally as well as linguistically.
Do I need an Italian PR specialist if I already have a global agency or in-house team?
Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
If the objective is general international visibility, an additional Italian consultant may not be necessary.
If, however, the hotel wants to develop the Italian market specifically, local expertise can add something that a broader international structure may not always be designed to provide: depth of local knowledge, continuity and day-to-day attention to the Italian media landscape.
This is not about replacing a global PR agency or undermining an internal communications team.
It is about complementing what already exists.
The key is to establish responsibilities from the outset. Who owns Italian media relations? Who approves messaging and materials? How are launches coordinated? How do we ensure that a story appearing in Italy remains aligned with the wider international communications strategy?
I have worked alongside other communications structures throughout my career and see that collaboration as an advantage rather than an obstacle.
I can operate as the specialist responsible solely for the Italian market alongside another agency or an in-house team, provided that the roles, responsibilities and approval processes are clear from the beginning.
If you are considering the broader question of when a hotel is better served by an agency and when a senior consultant may make more sense, I have explored that separately in PR Agency or Senior PR Consultant for Hotels?.
Press stays and hosting Italian journalists
Experiencing a hotel first-hand can be extremely valuable for a journalist, but it is neither necessary in every case nor economically sensible for every destination.
For a hotel in France or Austria, hosting an Italian journalist may be relatively straightforward and can potentially happen with some regularity.
For a property in the United States, the economics are very different. Travel costs rise substantially, which means hosted stays need to be selected much more carefully and reserved for media opportunities where the investment genuinely makes sense.
It is also worth dispelling a common misconception: a journalist does not necessarily need to have stayed at a hotel in order to write about it.
A significant amount of earned media can be generated through strong materials and highly targeted pitching without a press stay.
If a journalist is already travelling to the destination, or plans to visit independently, that naturally creates another type of opportunity.
Any hosted stay must, of course, also respect the editorial policies of the individual publication, which may have its own rules regarding travel, accommodation and disclosure.
Travel, meals and accommodation for journalists are generally treated as direct expenses rather than being included within the professional PR retainer, and those costs should always be discussed and agreed in advance.
I explain the distinction between professional fees and additional costs in more detail in How Much Does Hotel PR Cost?.
Timing and seasonality in the Italian media market
Stories aimed at the Italian media need to be developed well in advance.
My general rule is simple: work one season ahead.
By late spring, for example, stories intended for late autumn should already be taking shape. Print publications often work several months ahead, and arriving after an editorial calendar has closed simply means missing the opportunity.
There are two particularly important planning windows in the Italian calendar: late winter, when summer travel begins to enter the editorial conversation, and late summer, when winter stories start to become relevant.
Online media naturally offer greater flexibility and can work on shorter lead times, but print requires substantially more forward planning.
For an international hotel, another layer has to be added: editorial seasonality needs to be aligned with air connectivity and the periods when Italian travellers actually travel to that destination.
For a broader discussion of PR timing around an opening or major hotel milestone, see When Should Hotel PR Start Before an Opening?.
When Italy should not be a priority
Italian PR does not make sense for every hotel in the world, and I consider saying so part of the job.
There are situations in which a hotel’s budget would simply be better invested elsewhere.
The first is when there is no meaningful connection with the Italian traveller. If very few Italians travel to a particular destination, access is difficult, there are no useful air connections and the hotel has no genuine intention of developing Italy as a source market, there may be little commercial logic in investing in Italian media relations.
The second issue may be the property itself.
A large resort offering essentially the same proposition as dozens of competitors – the same beach, similar restaurants, similar entertainment and no distinctive idea behind the experience – gives an Italian journalist very little reason to single it out.
In that situation, the problem is not Italy.
The problem is that the property does not yet have a story worth earning media attention for.
And then there is readiness.
A hotel can have an interesting concept while still not being ready for greater visibility because the guest experience has not yet caught up with the story being told.
When that happens, the most responsible recommendation may be to wait. I discuss that issue in A Great Story Is Not Enough: When a Hospitality Property Is Not Ready for PR.
Sometimes saying no protects the client more effectively than launching a campaign.
In summary
Entering the Italian media market does not mean translating a campaign that already works elsewhere.
It means rebuilding the hotel’s story around the factors that make it relevant to Italian travellers and journalists: cultural context, editorial sensibility, accessibility, seasonality and timing.
An international hotel can enjoy strong visibility in its home market and remain almost entirely absent from the Italian media simply because nobody has made that localisation step.
That is where an Italian PR specialist can add value.
The role can sit alongside a global agency or in-house communications team without duplicating their work, provided that responsibilities are clearly defined.
The value is not in promising specific publications or guaranteed numbers – something no serious earned-media professional can legitimately do.
It lies in understanding where, when and why your hotel’s story can become genuinely relevant in Italy, and being equally willing to tell you when it cannot.
If you manage a hotel outside Italy and are considering whether the Italian media market makes sense for your property, we can start with a conversation.
I will tell you candidly whether I see a genuine opportunity or whether, at this stage, your investment would be better directed elsewhere.
You can explore my PR and media relations services or book a conversation with me directly.
Frequently asked questions
Can an international hotel hire a PR specialist solely for the Italian market?
Yes. An international hotel can appoint a specialist specifically to manage Italian media relations while keeping its existing communications activity in other markets unchanged. It is an efficient way to add local expertise without restructuring the hotel’s wider PR operation.
Should a hotel translate its press kit into Italian?
It is strongly recommended. Italian journalists can of course work with international materials in English, but providing a press kit and pitches that have already been localised into Italian reduces friction, makes the information easier to use and allows the story to be adapted to the local editorial context.
Does a hotel with an international PR agency also need an Italian PR consultant?
It depends on the objective. If the hotel wants to develop the Italian market specifically, a local specialist can add depth, continuity and detailed knowledge of the Italian media landscape. They do not necessarily replace the existing agency: they can work alongside it on one defined market, with clear responsibilities and approval processes from the outset.
How long does it take to secure media coverage in Italy?
There is no guaranteed timeframe. Opportunities can begin to emerge within the first few weeks when the hotel already has a strong story and the right materials in place, but a PR strategy should be assessed over several months, particularly when print publications with longer editorial lead times are involved.
Is it always necessary to host Italian journalists at the hotel?
No. A first-hand stay can be valuable, but it is not essential in every case, and whether it makes sense depends largely on distance and cost. For long-haul destinations, hosted visits should usually be reserved for priority media opportunities, while strong coverage can also be generated through targeted pitching and high-quality editorial materials. Travel and hospitality costs are normally separate from the PR fee.
Can Italian PR guarantee coverage in specific publications?
No. Italian media coverage is earned media, which means the final editorial decision belongs to the journalist and publication. A serious PR consultant can create the conditions for relevant coverage to happen but cannot legitimately guarantee a specific title. If publication in a particular outlet is guaranteed in advance, it will usually be advertising, sponsored content or another form of paid media rather than earned editorial coverage.
