Dubai-based airline Emirates has named Citizen Relations its Canadian PR agency of record following a competitive pitch.
The agency, which is owned by Vision 7 International, will handle all PR activities for the company in Canada, including media strategy and relations, sponsorship, trade media outreach and crisis preparedness.
“They’re hoping to spread the word about the Emirates experience to more Canadians,” said Nick Cowling, general manager of Citizen Relations. “A secondary opportunity for them is to talk about the destination of Dubai… It’s an enormously fast-growing tourist destination and they want to let Canadians know what they could be missing out on.”
Cowling said Emirates was looking for an agency with national presence. The airline currently only flies out of Toronto, but serves Canadians on the west coast through its Seattle service while those on the East Coast can fly out of New York.
“They want to make sure they promote the brand experience to all Canadians, not just in the Greater Toronto Area,” said Cowling.
Citizen Relations has a growing travel and tourism portfolio, having been named North American PR AOR for Rocky Mountaineer in June 2014, and North American AOR for Travelocity last December. Citizen Relations also works with Destination British Columbia, Princess Cruises and Top Deck Travel, among other clients.
