BackgroundPlas Dinas Country House Hotel, near Caernarfon in north Wales, is run by Andy and Julian Banner-Price and the couple have worked hard to restore the seventeenth century property to its former glory.
The property boasts a fascinating history, as the childhood home of Lord Snowdon who married HRH Princess Margaret. The royal couple spent much of their early marriage at the house and it is also the spot where Lord Snowdon spent a year designing the setting for Prince Charles’ investiture ceremony at nearby Caernarfon Castle.
The house was later used as a nursing home, during which time much of the original furniture was moved out to avoid damage. Since Julian and Andy took over the property, the Snowdon family has returned family heirlooms to Plas Dinas, including a crystal chandelier, painstakingly reassembled and polished by expert handlers. It now has pride of place in the main hallway.
After a labour of love that has seen the property returned to its former spleandour, Julian and Andy were keen to tell the world about it.
Planning & implementation
Tracy North, managing director of Outwrite PR, visited Plas Dinas and was fascinated by the property’s history and the impressive renovation work undertaken by Julian and Andy.
Having spent time at the property learning about its history and Julian and Andy’s background, Tracy discussed the PR campaign and quickly identified the key publications to be targeted. This took into account the regions that visitors to north Wales come from.
With her journalism background, Tracy was able to write a press release that would capture the historical significance and romance of Plas Dinas - guaranteed to catch the eye of key journalists.
The press release was issued to key contacts, including the Press Association (PA). Within hours Tracy took a call from the managing editor of PA requesting a visit. This was a real coup as the Press Association is highly respected within the industry and syndicates its copy to regional and national newspapers across the UK, ensuring an excellent spread of coverage.
Enquiries/requests quickly followed from a range of journalists from regional newspapers and magazines and Outwrite PR worked closely with Julian and Andy to make bookings and ensure everything went smoothly.
Results included
On a limited budget the PR campaign succeeded in securing ? pieces of significant coverage across national and regional media.
Coverage including colour spreads in:
- Candis magazine, one of the UK’s top ten best selling monthly women’s magazines
- The Manchester Evening News
- The Liverpool Echo
- The Coventry Telegraph
- The Yorkshire Evening Post
- The Shropshire Star
- The Aberdeen Evening Express
The positive press coverage promoted lots of bookings, with visitors telling Andy and Julian that they had read about Plas Dinas in their local paper. The coverage also helped to raise the profile of the hotel’s website, in so doing, improving its search engine optimisation.
Andy Banner-Price said: “We chose Outwrite because of their past experience in the field of tourism and their professional approach and website.
“Tracy came to look round Plas Dinas and seemed genuinely interested in our product and the unique offering to our guests. We devised a strategy together, along with a budget we were happy with.
“Within a week we already had the Press Association booked in to visit us and soon after, many other requests followed. Our profile was lifted and our press coverage across the country has definitely brought in extra bookings. We’re still getting calls telling us they saw us in a local newspaper.
“We’re very pleased with the work Tracy and her team did for us and feel we had value for money compared to us paying for adverts in various publications. They kept us informed every step of the way and were able to offer feedback on their results.”
in the field of tourism and their professional approach and website.
Our profile was lifted and our press coverage across the country has
definitely brought in extra bookings."
Andy Banner-Price
Chief Proprietor