New York, NY, August 14, 2001 � When Michael Frenkel founded MFC PR in 1999, he had more than enough travel public relations experience under his belt. Having spent several years successfully pitching hotel brands to the national media for Cendant Corporation, publicized clients such as Preferred Hotels & Resorts and the Mexico Ministry of Tourism for two New York PR agencies, and also served as director of communications at a state hotel association, he figured he had just about seen it all. Then he visited Quechee Lakes, Vermont.

�What we saw there was amazing. Incredible natural beauty, two championship golf courses, fly fishing and the best skiing in New England, all within a several mile radius, and less than two hours drive from Boston.� 

The one thing that Quechee did not have? A Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons or other exclusive resort to catch the eye of the national media. The challenge for Frenkel�s young firm was clear: Promote the region and its growing resort home community, without the aid of the glitz and glamour that traditionally draw big name press to a destination.

MFC PR went to work on behalf of its client, the Quechee Lakes Development Company, to draw regional and national media attention to the tiny Vermont village. �We scheduled media visits to Quechee, issued press releases and brought our clients to Manhattan to visit with key journalists, all the standard tools of effective public relations,� says Frenkel. �But we hit pay dirt when we sold the destination story from a unique angle � by focusing on ownership of the area�s luxury second homes, keying in on Quechee�s tremendous natural, cultural and recreational options for visitors.�

Several feature articles on Quechee quickly appeared in magazines and newspapers in New York and Boston. And as a result of the PR effort, MFC made sure Quechee Lakes received attention from another prominent national pitch-man: home-builder Bob Vila. Beginning in September, Quechee Lakes will be the featured destination on twelve episodes of Bob Vila�s nationally syndicated TV program Home Again. That means even more exposure, to the more than thirty million Americans each week that watch Vila�s program � not to mention re-runs. 

�Since the word got out, the phone has really been ringing,� says Frenkel. Traffic to the region has increased, homes are selling, and the national travel media is taking notice. For MFC PR, success brought its own reward in the form of a new client, the Jackson House Inn & Restaurant in nearby Woodstock, VT. �We intend to do for the Jackson House what we did for Quechee Lakes � put it on the map, drive visitors, build business.�

MFC�s president cut his teeth in the hotel PR business, and the firm�s �guerilla PR� approach is getting results for hotel industry clients as well. The company began representing Boston�s Saunders Hotel Group earlier this year, and helped successfully re-introduced the company�s path-breaking environmental program to the national media through placements in such publications as the Dallas Morning-News, the Orlando Sentinel and the Boston Globe, as well as the trade press. 

�Here we have a family that has very successful hotels � The Lenox, The Copley Square and the Comfort Inn Boston Airport �, but is looking for an extra edge, a storyline that demonstrates the company�s commitment to the community, the environment and the traveling public.� Frenkel concluded, �Saunders� eco-program breaks the mold, and sets the company and its properties apart from the pack.�

MFC PR�s other clients in the travel industry have included Newport, RI-based Atlantic Stars Hospitality Group, the cruise yacht Arabella, and Portable Internet, a wireless provider for the hotel industry.

What kind of future publicity is in store for �undiscovered� clients such as Quechee Lakes? 

MFC�s Frenkel draws a comparison between selling a news story and running a hotel: �The hardest part is up front � identifying your true points of differentiation from the competition and framing your positioning in the right way to make sure it sells.� 

He concludes, �Once the thinking work is done and you�ve pitched the story from every possible creative angle, big-time exposure is sure to follow.�

M FRENKEL COMMUNICATIONS (MFC) provides strategic communications and public relations for companies in travel and hospitality, real estate, retail and consumer brands, and the not-for-profit arenas.  We have counseled Fortune 500 companies and start-ups, and built some of the world�s most prestigious and well-known brands, with one goal: differentiating our client�s business from the competition, in today�s noisy, crowded marketplace � to achieve competitive advantage in your market.