Lou Hammond & Associates: Firm Profile

Lou Rena Hammond founded Lou Hammond & Associates in 1984 on three principles: style, integrity, results. Four decades later the firm operates as Lou Hammond Group, one of the most established independent travel and hospitality communications agencies in the United States.

Who founded Lou Hammond & Associates?

Before opening the agency, Lou Hammond served as Director of Promotion, Publicity, and Public Affairs for Pan American World Airways. Pan Am gave her the destination network, the hospitality vendor relationships, and the travel-communications discipline that would define the firm she launched in 1984. The travel-and-hospitality specialty was not a positioning choice — it was earned from a decade inside one of the most consequential travel brands of the 20th century.

What does the firm actually do?

• Destination and tourism boards
• Hotels, resorts, and hospitality groups
• Real estate and residential developments
• Lifestyle and consumer brands
• Digital communications and reputation monitoring
• Crisis response and issues management

The firm's Digital Division handles online marketing and monitors client activity around the clock to intercept negative-PR situations before they escalate.

Selected Clients

Hunter Douglas. PlanSource. The Beach Company. Nassau Paradise Island. Fort Worth. Sonoma County Vintners and Winegrowers. Red Mountain Resort. Marriott. Territorial Committee of the Tourism of Saint Barthelemy (St. Barth) — engaged in September 2014 for a 12-month contract covering 12 in-market visits, four press releases, press meetings, and event planning with the Hotels and Villas Association of St-Barth. Many Lou Hammond client relationships run for a decade or longer.

Where does Lou Hammond Group sit in the market?

Lou Hammond Group is one of the anchor independent travel PR firms in the country, alongside Finn Partners' travel practice, Development Counsellors International, and MMGY NJF. The firm's edge is destination and hospitality depth — the kind of tenure that only a founder-built agency accumulates.

Related Coverage

• PR in Today's World: Talent, Tools, Time
• Dynamic PR in the Digital Age
• PR Firms & Communications Agencies
• Travel & Destination Marketing
• Hospitality Communications