CANUSA TOURISTIK | Newsjacking Strategy

About CANUSA TOURISTIK:

Founded in 1983 by Tilo Krause-Dünow, CANUSA TOURISTIK has established itself as Germany’s leading specialist tour operator for Canada and the United States. Nearly 500,000 customers have traveled across the Atlantic with CANUSA TOURISTIK over the past four decades. A distinctive feature: the company is still family-owned and is run by Tilo Krause-Dünow and his son, Timmo.
CANUSA TOURISTIK offers programs covering all 50 U.S. states and every Canadian province. Around 95% of customers book a complete package with tailored services such as transfers, accommodation, a camper or rental car, and activities on site.

Challenge & Objective:

With Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, political debates dominated media coverage, undermining confidence in the United States as a travel destination. The travel market felt the impact: many competitors reported declining booking numbers and growing uncertainty among travelers.

For our client CANUSA TOURISTIK, a specialist tour operator for North America, this represented a potential risk to its core business—but also a communications opportunity for positioning.

The goal was to proactively counter this negative trend: through targeted PR measures, the tour operator was to remain established as a competent and reliable point of contact for travel to the U.S.—despite the political situation and precisely because tourism is largely independent of political change, if not even able to benefit from it. At the same time, the aim was to strengthen confidence in the U.S. as a safe and diverse travel destination and to reignite travelers’ interest. The strategy was clear: not to duck and cover, but to take a stand—well-informed, nuanced, and media-effective.

Our approach:

We chose a newsjacking strategy to leverage the high level of media interest surrounding the impact of Trump’s policies on travel to the United States. To do so, we combined a range of PR tools:

• Proactive media outreach: We pitched interviews with CANUSA TOURISTIK’s managing director as a U.S. expert to high-reach outlets—both within the travel industry and in national and business media. To provide context on entry requirements and tourism developments in the U.S., we prepared fact-based statements and shared them regularly with relevant newsrooms.
• Reactive agenda surfing: Whenever there were new developments involving Trump and their potential impact on entry requirements or the U.S.’s image, we responded quickly with assessments and background information.
• Thought leadership positioning: Through op-eds and press releases, the specialist was positioned as a counter-voice in an increasingly heated debate.

Results:

The PR activities generated broad media resonance and helped raise our client’s profile beyond the tourism sector, further strengthening its visibility:

• Numerous placements in high-reach media outlets such as Die Welt, Stern, FAZ, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, Märkische Allgemeine, Augsburger Allgemeine, RND, WDR, Sat.1, Radio Antenne Frankfurt, MSN, reisereporter, as well as across the wider travel trade press.
• Several live radio and TV interviews featuring CANUSA TOURISTIK’s managing director as a U.S. travel expert.
• Neutral-to-optimistic PR coverage despite negative political headlines.
• Stärkung der Markenwahrnehmung von CANUSA TOURISTIK als verlässliche Informationsquelle, Positionierung als starker Player im deutschsprachigen Markt.

Conclusion:

This case demonstrates how crisis communication and newsjacking can be successfully combined to generate media relevance and build trust. The political uncertainty surrounding Trump was not perceived as a risk, but rather as a communicative opportunity.

With an agile, strategically sound approach, our client was not only able to maintain visibility but also to enhance their standing as an expert. A best-case example of how to leverage current debates with a clear communication objective.