How Plotpackers increased its Domain Rating from 9 to 41 through travel PR
Summary
Plotpackers partnered with Fair Public Relations for a six-month travel PR campaign designed to strengthen its online presence, build third-party credibility and position founder Louise Truman as a trusted travel expert.
Beginning on 18 March, the campaign turned Louise’s experience across travel, sustainable tourism, remote work and entrepreneurship into timely stories for national, international, consumer and specialist publications.
The campaign secured coverage in outlets including The Independent, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Southern Living, Forbes, Adventure.com, IrelandLive, The Portugal News, Hotel Owner and Reach publications.
During or following the campaign, Plotpackers’ Domain Rating increased from 9 to 41.
At a glance
Client: Plotpackers
Expert: Louise Truman
Job title: Founder, Plotpackers
Sector: Travel
Campaign type: Founder-led and expert-led travel PR
Campaign start: 18 March
Campaign length: Six months
Primary objective: Strengthen Plotpackers’ online presence
Domain Rating at the start: 9
Domain Rating during or following the campaign: 41
Increase: 32 points
The client
Plotpackers offers sustainable and accessible group tours, with a particular focus on female empowerment and ethical travel experiences.
The company operates in a competitive travel market in which reputation, trust and third-party validation can have a significant influence on customer confidence.
Plotpackers had several credible editorial routes available, including:
sustainable tourism;
ethical travel;
female group travel;
digital nomadism;
remote work;
affordable holidays;
booking trends;
practical travel advice;
entrepreneurship;
developments within the tourism and hospitality sectors.
The challenge was to turn those areas into stories that were genuinely useful to journalists and their readers.
The expert
Louise Truman is the founder of Plotpackers and an entrepreneur with expertise across travel, sustainable tourism, remote work and digital content.
A graduate of King’s College London, Louise built a substantial online audience through her travel and digital nomad content, gaining more than 100,000 TikTok followers in six months.
She has previously been featured in Newsweek and Forbes and is a credible commentator on subjects including:
sustainable tourism;
ethical travel;
group travel;
female empowerment;
digital nomadism;
remote work;
holiday planning;
consumer travel trends;
entrepreneurship;
the future of travel.
Her combination of first-hand business experience, sector knowledge and understanding of traveller behaviour made her a strong spokesperson for the campaign.
The objective
Plotpackers wanted to boost its online presence.
The campaign was developed to help the company:
secure relevant earned media coverage;
strengthen its third-party credibility;
position Louise as a useful source for travel journalists;
create authoritative online references to Plotpackers;
improve the breadth of its online media footprint;
build visibility beyond its own website and social channels;
support its wider search presence.
The campaign was not centred on directly advertising Plotpackers’ tours.
Instead, Fair Public Relations focused on making Louise’s expertise useful to journalists covering travel, tourism, consumer behaviour and the hospitality sector.
The challenge
Travel is one of the most competitive consumer media sectors.
Journalists regularly receive pitches and commentary from:
airlines;
hotel groups;
booking platforms;
travel agents;
tourism boards;
comparison websites;
consumer finance experts;
travel influencers;
holiday brands.
Generic travel advice is therefore unlikely to stand out on its own.
For Plotpackers to attract meaningful media interest, each story needed to be:
timely;
practical;
useful to readers;
connected to seasonal demand;
supported by clear recommendations;
credible coming from Louise;
suitable for a clearly defined media audience.
The campaign also needed enough variety to generate opportunities across six months rather than relying on one announcement or recurring story.
The strategy
Fair Public Relations developed a founder-led and expert-led campaign built around practical travel advice, seasonal trends and wider tourism-industry commentary.
The work combined:
expert commentary;
consumer travel guidance;
money-saving advice;
seasonal booking stories;
practical packing content;
sustainable and ethical travel insight;
hospitality-industry commentary;
proactive media pitching;
reactive journalist opportunities;
founder positioning.
Rather than promoting Plotpackers through overt sales messaging, the campaign positioned Louise as a knowledgeable and accessible source whom journalists could approach when covering travel-related subjects.
The strategy included:
identifying Louise’s strongest authority themes;
developing timely consumer travel stories;
connecting expertise to seasonal news cycles;
monitoring developments in travel and hospitality;
producing reader-focused recommendations;
targeting national and international media;
approaching relevant travel and hospitality titles;
adapting successful angles for different publications;
building a consistent pipeline of stories across the six months.
Campaign themes
Helping travellers reduce summer holiday costs
One of the strongest campaign themes focused on practical ways people could reduce the cost of summer travel.
Louise contributed accessible advice designed to help readers make better decisions around planning, booking and managing holiday expenses.
The story secured coverage across several publications and syndication partners, including:
PA Media;
IrelandLive;
The Independent;
Yahoo;
MSN;
The Portugal News;
AOL.
The angle worked because it addressed a widespread consumer concern and provided readers with clear, practical actions.
It also demonstrated how one strong central idea could be adapted across national, international and regional media.
Essential packing advice
Louise also contributed advice on the items travellers should remember to pack.
This created a straightforward consumer story that was:
relevant to a broad audience;
seasonally useful;
practical;
closely connected to Louise’s first-hand travel experience.
The story was featured by Reach publications.
The best time to book holiday travel
The campaign explored travel-booking behaviour and when consumers may find worthwhile holiday opportunities.
Louise provided commentary explaining why August could be a particularly useful time to book upcoming travel.
Coverage included:
AOL;
Southern Living;
Yahoo.
This expanded Plotpackers’ visibility beyond UK-only media and strengthened Louise’s position as a commentator on wider consumer travel behaviour.
Sustainable and ethical travel
Louise’s experience running a sustainable group-tour company also supported commentary on responsible tourism.
Her insight appeared in coverage discussing subjects such as:
ethical wildlife tours;
sustainable travel choices;
female small-group travel;
changes in traveller priorities.
Examples visible within Plotpackers’ backlink profile included coverage from:
Forbes;
These stories aligned closely with Plotpackers’ values and helped connect the brand to subjects beyond general holiday advice.
Travel and hospitality industry commentary
The campaign was not limited to consumer tips.
Louise also contributed commentary on developments affecting the wider travel and hospitality sectors.
This included insight connected to Dalata Hotel Group’s €1.4 billion takeover by Pandox and Eiendomsspar.
The commentary was featured by Hotel Owner.
This demonstrated that Louise could contribute to both:
consumer-facing travel stories;
specialist travel and hospitality discussions.
That breadth gave the campaign more editorial routes and made it less reliant on one type of coverage.
Media targeting
Fair Public Relations did not target publications purely according to size.
Outlets were selected based on:
relevance;
audience;
subject matter;
journalist interest;
editorial fit;
Louise’s credibility;
the likely usefulness of the story to readers.
The campaign reached a mixture of:
national news publications;
international media;
large online platforms;
regional news titles;
consumer lifestyle publications;
travel media;
hospitality trade titles;
syndication networks.
This created a broader and more balanced media footprint than a campaign focused solely on national newspaper coverage.
Results
Over six months, Plotpackers secured coverage across respected consumer, national, international and specialist publications.
Visible coverage included:
The Independent;
Yahoo;
MSN;
AOL;
Southern Living;
Forbes;
PA Media;
IrelandLive;
The Portugal News;
Hotel Owner;
Reach publications.
The campaign generated media opportunities through several distinct editorial themes, including:
reducing holiday costs;
summer travel;
packing advice;
holiday booking;
sustainable tourism;
ethical wildlife travel;
female group travel;
tourism and hospitality developments.
This demonstrated that Louise could be positioned through several complementary areas of expertise rather than one narrow recurring subject.
It also gave journalists multiple reasons to feature Plotpackers and return to Louise for commentary.
You can view Louise's published articles in our Media Coverage database, alongside hundreds of other articles secured for our clients across a wide range of industries, sectors and areas of expertise.
Domain Rating growth
At the start of the campaign, Plotpackers had a Domain Rating of 9.
During or following the six-month campaign, its Domain Rating had increased to 41.
That represents an increase of 32 points.
Founder visibility
The campaign also helped strengthen Louise Truman’s profile as a travel founder and commentator.
Rather than appearing only as the owner of a tour company, she was positioned as someone with useful insight into:
travel costs;
consumer behaviour;
holiday booking;
packing;
sustainable tourism;
digital nomadism;
the wider travel industry.
This gave journalists a clearer reason to speak to her and helped connect Plotpackers with a recognisable expert voice.
Founder-led PR was particularly suitable for this campaign because Louise already had:
a strong personal profile;
a substantial social audience;
relevant business experience;
first-hand sector knowledge;
previous media credibility;
a clear connection to the subjects being pitched.
Why the campaign worked
Louise had credible, relevant expertise
The campaign was built around subjects Louise could speak about naturally and confidently.
Her experience as a travel entrepreneur, content creator and founder gave the commentary a credible foundation.
The stories were useful
The strongest angles helped readers make practical decisions.
They were not simply promotional pieces about Plotpackers.
They answered questions people genuinely had about:
holiday costs;
what to pack;
when to book;
how the travel industry was changing.
The campaign was seasonal
Travel coverage is heavily influenced by timing.
The campaign connected Louise’s expertise to subjects already attracting media and consumer interest at relevant points in the year.
Strong angles were adapted
Successful stories were not limited to one journalist or publication.
Where appropriate, the same central topic was adapted for different audiences, regions and publication styles.
The campaign used several media routes
The work combined consumer advice with specialist industry commentary.
That made the campaign less dependent on one type of story.
The campaign built over time
The six-month structure allowed Fair Public Relations to:
test different themes;
identify what journalists responded to;
refine positioning;
repeat successful approaches;
build a stronger pipeline of opportunities.
Campaign timeline
18 March: campaign launch
The campaign began with onboarding, positioning and a review of Louise’s strongest areas of expertise.
Initial work included:
understanding Plotpackers;
reviewing Louise’s experience;
defining suitable media themes;
identifying target audiences;
developing initial travel angles;
preparing media materials.
Months one and two
The early campaign focused on:
building Louise’s expert positioning;
identifying seasonal travel opportunities;
developing practical consumer stories;
preparing media lists;
beginning journalist outreach.
Months three and four
The campaign started to generate wider coverage across national, international and regional publications.
Successful consumer themes were refined and adapted for additional outlets.
Months five and six
The final part of the campaign continued the consumer travel work while also developing more specialist commentary around the travel and hospitality sectors.
By the end of the six months, Plotpackers had developed a considerably stronger media footprint and its Domain Rating had increased from 9 to 41.
Client testimonial
“Thank you so much, this has been an amazing service and I’m really keen to do this again.”
Louise Truman
Founder, Plotpackers
The outcome
Plotpackers began the campaign with the goal of boosting its online presence.
Over six months, Fair Public Relations helped the business develop a stronger and more credible media footprint through practical travel advice, timely consumer stories and wider industry commentary.
The campaign:
secured national, international, regional and specialist coverage;
positioned Louise Truman as a credible travel expert;
generated repeat coverage from strong media angles;
strengthened Plotpackers’ third-party credibility;
created a larger body of authoritative online references;
expanded the brand’s visibility beyond its owned channels;
coincided with an increase in Domain Rating from 9 to 41.
The result was a more visible, credible and media-supported online presence for Plotpackers.
What happened in six months
| Campaign measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Campaign started | 18 March |
| Campaign period covered | Six months |
| Published articles | 11 |
| Average articles per month | Approximately two |
| Recognised media brands | 10+ |
| Starting Ahrefs Domain Rating | 9 |
| Current Ahrefs Domain Rating | 41 |
| Domain Rating increase | +32 |
| Current backlinks | 924 |
| Current linking websites | 263 |
| Campaign status | Completed |
About Louise Truman
Louise Truman is an entrepreneur and the founder of Plotpackers, a travel company offering sustainable, accessible group tours with a focus on female empowerment.
A graduate of King’s College London, Louise has established herself as a recognised voice within the travel and digital nomad spaces.
She gained more than 100,000 TikTok followers within six months through viral travel content and has been featured in Newsweek and Forbes.
Louise comments on subjects including:
entrepreneurship;
sustainable tourism;
group travel;
remote work;
digital nomadism;
female-focused travel;
consumer travel trends;
the future of travel.
She is based in London.
Looking to build your travel brand’s media profile?
Fair Public Relations helps founders, experts and growing businesses turn credible expertise, useful advice and strong stories into earned media opportunities.
Our Standard PR service includes journalist-led strategy, angle development, content creation, media outreach, reporting and ongoing account support.
Standard PR: £597 per month or US$797 per month
The service begins with a three-month initial commitment and then continues monthly with one full billing cycle’s notice.
Media coverage, backlinks, search visibility and commercial outcomes cannot be guaranteed because final editorial decisions always sit with journalists and publications.
