The Brandman Agency is a boutique luxury travel, tourism, lifestyle, and real estate PR firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Sydney. Founded by Melanie Brandman in 2000, the agency operates across openings, launches, renovations, social media, influencer engagement, digital marketing, brand partnerships, media relations, and creative activations.
Client portfolio
Brandman's hospitality and travel client roster has historically included Ritz Carlton Reserve's Dorado Beach, Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Moxy (Chelsea, East Village, Times Square), Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa, the Ritz Carlton Hotels in Dorado Beach, Half Moon Bay, Kapalua, Kyoto, Waikiki Beach, San Francisco, and Tokyo, Marriott International's Caribbean & Latin America operations, the Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead, the Hilton Chicago, and Gaylord Hotels. Hospitality-product clients have included the Mascioni Hotel Collection and Resort Pass.
The firm's travel clients have included Cathay Pacific Airways, Crystal, Wiltrans International (Paul Gauguin Cruises), and Walk Japan. In adjacent categories, Brandman represented Casamigos Tequila (the spirits brand co-founded by George Clooney) and Windsor, the exclusive residential community in Vero Beach, Florida.
Leadership
Founder and CEO Melanie Brandman previously served as Vice President of Corporate Affairs for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Vogue Australia, and launched Travel Curator, a global travel and lifestyle newsletter. The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association recognized her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, and WONDERLUST has named her one of the "50 Most Important Women in Travel." A seventh-generation Australian, she has traveled to more than 70 countries — depth she credits as a source of perspective on the agency's travel and hospitality work. She serves on the Bodhi Tree Foundation board and is the manager of the US Elephant Polo Team.
Agency President Kristen Vigrass joined in 2001 and led the establishment of the firm's London, Los Angeles, and Sydney offices. Her prior client experience includes Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, and Krispy Kreme.
Positioning in luxury travel PR
Brandman occupies a defined slice of the luxury travel and hospitality PR market: boutique scale, luxury-only focus, and a four-office global network connecting hotel groups, lifestyle brands, and high-net-worth-targeted real estate. The agency's work has historically run through editorial relationships with the consumer luxury travel press, partnership development with adjacent lifestyle brands, and creative activations tied to property openings and renovations.
Luxury travel PR sits at a distinct point in the broader travel and hospitality PR category — the audience is narrower, the editorial outlets that move bookings are fewer, the storytelling is more about provenance and experience than promotional cycles, and the relationship horizon between agency and brand tends to be measured in years rather than campaign cycles. Brandman's model has been built around that pattern.
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