The Luxury Travel Magazine
The Luxury Travel Magazine
Travel PR guru Cleo Anderson has the best little black book in the business. Linked to Monaco and Hollywood, as well as representing the top travel destinations in the world, she is the go-to person to help five-star hotels shine. She sees it as her personal mission to ensure that high-end luxury hotels hit the headlines, but she also has her own unique story to tell. Beau Monde Traveler meets the icon behind The Anderson Media Group.
With offices in LA and Paris and London, The Anderson Media Group is a boutique PR agency with an international reach. Her effective PR campaigns have won her clients acclaim. Sometimes she becomes the story herself, like when the PR campaign that propelled her into the luxury sphere involved coordinating and running the press activities for the 150th anniversary of Monaco’s Monte Carlo Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) won multiple awards. Through her role as ‘Luxury Travel Curator of the Everyone Wins Goodie Bag’ dished out to the top 25 Oscar nominees each year, she personally sources the most unique travel destinations in the world and these go into the gift bags that are hand-delivered to celebrities such as Leonardo Di Caprio, Nicole Kidman and even Steven Spielberg. In 2022 they were all invited to Turin Castle, in Scotland, a client on her books as well as other luxurious hotels around the world that she manages the PR accounts for.
Cleo may live a dream-worthy life, but she is still down to earth. Yet she deservedly is getting recognition for her efforts. Her personalised approach has not only won her clients but fame in her own right with recent recognition in Forbes. “When Forbes comes knocking you say yes! It was wonderful to be globally recognised for what I do. We aim for this for our clients, and now the spotlight has turned on us.” Having travelled the globe staying in the world’s best hotels, rooting out the stories that best sell her clients, she is also now set to host her very own luxury travel show on LUXE TV.
Cleo graduated with a Law degree and was poised to follow a corporate path working in the city alongside stockbrokers and traders. While this was perhaps the expected path, she was destined for a more glamorous vocation. Having been a model for Diesel Jeans she lived a lucky life and even spent time in Paris, learning fluent French before breaking into Marketing and PR at BusinessWeek Magazine. Soon after she branched out to become an independent publicist. Working on a wide range of campaigns in the health, beauty and lifestyle arenas in England, she later spent time in the US and learned the ropes at a PR agency in Bel Air, California. It was here that Vogue left her a message about a story she had pitched to them, and after the owner of the agency remarked “Vogue doesn’t call people back”, it dawned on Cleo that she had a real knack for PR. As a result, she set up her own agency – The Anderson Media Group. “I took the plunge and it was the best decision I ever made.” A week later she signed her first client – a cosmetic surgeon – and the rest is history.”
Cleo describes her journey into travel PR as a ‘happy accident’ that snowballed once she secured prominent hotels on the books. The Anderson Media Group started out as a luxury lifestyle PR agency and travel wasn’t part of the plan, although she always had a great passion for it. It was only when an Italian client recommended her for a year-long campaign for Monte Carlo SBM ‘s 150th anniversary, that things took off for the agency. This introduction catapulted them into travel, but it was something that fell into her lap completely unexpectedly: “I didn’t realise then how big it was, but it was what got me onto the luxury travel trajectory,” she said.
Cleo was recruited to secure high-end coverage for Monte Carlo SBM during its 150th year. As the largest hotel and hospitality group in Monaco, they own the Monte Carlo Casino and the famous Jimmy’z Night Club. She worked with the prestigious Hotel Hermitage and Hotel de Paris Monte Carlo when she was invited out and given a personal tour of the Principality. “Getting to know such hotels is how we leveraged the luxury angle to our agency and became specialised in five-star hotels. I loved the experiential aspect of working with the hotel group and seeing what they did first-hand – I was hooked.”
She started right away on a campaign organising all the media activity for the week-long celebrations in Monaco. Selling the story of this glam destination was a Travel PR dream. Oozing with glamour Monaco is the playground of the rich and famous built on the heritage of starlets such as Grace Kelly, who went on to marry Prince Rainier III, Sofia Loren and Carey Grant. It is the setting of many James Bond films including GoldenEye and Never Say Never Again as well as being the muse behind Ian Fleming’s debut Bond novel, Casino Royale.
To mark this milestone Dame Shirley Bassey, Rod Stewart, Jamie Cullum, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Bryan Ferry and Elton John all played to an audience of royalty and the great and the good who were invited to a 10-course gourmet dinner created by Alain Ducasse, at the Hotel de Paris, plus a performance by the Monte Carlo philharmonic orchestra. Such an occasion just had to hit the right headlines in the right publications and the top journalists from Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar were invited along by Cleo and her team in person. Their coverage reflected the magnitude of the celebration and subsequently, the campaign won awards which opened doors for the agency and Cleo.
Following this, many opportunities opened for Cleo to travel from one luxury hotel to another, she is drawn to new experiences, new landscapes and new cultures. From glamping in Morocco, staying in an urban apartment in Tokyo to staying in an entire lighthouse hotel on a Spanish island but she would still love to see the Northern Lights and stay in an igloo.
One of her favourite hotels is the Qasr Al Sarab by Anantara, set in the middle of the Abu Dhabi desert where everything from the hotel, the food and the service are imprinted on her memory. “Some places you visit and never forget. That hotel ticked all the boxes for me,” she revealed.
She also highly recommends the Viceroy Bali – a family-run, boutique luxury hotel set high above the Indonesian jungle. The people are attentive, warm and welcoming. There are amazing suites and a helipad for their glamorous clientele. Similarly, Faro Cumplida, featured in a previous goodie bag, is an unforgettable lighthouse on the Canary Islands that has been converted into a boutique hotel. Cleo was given a personal tour by the owner, Tim, and breakfast in the morning was delivered by a local woman, Pili, in a hand-made basket. “I felt so looked after, everything was personalised. The setting was so unique.” She also rates Palazzo Morosini Degli Spezieri private apartments which were exquisitely designed to the finest detail. As a location Venice is a top pick for luxury and romance oozing style and sophistication.
In terms of places that have captured her heart she rates the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Santorini but most of all Argos in Cappadocia, a fairytale land with dreamlike scenery, simply blew her away. “Watching the hot air balloons float into the sky is magical. We went up in one and had champagne and strawberries for breakfast.”
Often, Cleo travels independently for business. Her advice for travellers is “don’t be afraid to venture out and book the vacation even if it means doing it alone; it builds on your confidence and life experience. Be spontaneous: “Once I was visiting a hotel client in Sri Lanka on a press trip and I discovered the Maldives is only an hour’s flight away, so I booked immediately. Some people think that you must be with a partner to enjoy it, but I happened to be alone on a business trip I stayed in an overwater bungalow solo and loved it. You must seize these moments.”
During her career, there have been many ‘surreal moments’ where Cleo has had to pinch herself. One of those was being approached by Tyra Banks’ team for possible future PR projects. Cleo admits, “This was a huge boost personally and professionally as I admire how she has transitioned from modelling to becoming a business mind. I love that she takes business seriously. She is a great role model as a black woman.”
Reflecting on her own experiences as a black woman in the industry she said: “To be honest I’ve never encountered life hindering problems as a black woman. I have a strong mind and I know who I am. I’m a firm believer that energy, professionalism, grooming, and attitude play a far greater role in how people perceive you and those who fall back on racist slights are usually operating from a place of envy or insecurity or they are harking back to a past that no longer exists. I walk into meetings and situations extremely confident in my skin, rather than expecting a negative experience. It has worked well for me so far – people pick up on your self-confidence.” Other celebrity collaborations have occurred during her campaigns in Monaco and she worked with Mischa Barton on the launch of the world’s most expensive iPhone, revealing she taught her how to give the paparazzi their shot one by one whilst they were on the red carpet together.
Looking to the future Cleo will be the executive producer and presenter of a luxury travel show on Luxe TV. She’ll be on location later this year in Athens touring three high-end hotels, exploring the region, and tasting the incredible food to describe to viewers. The aim of the show is to convey the glamour and aspirational aspects of the destination and bring together all her experience of visiting hotels into one central show. “It’s my dream job,” she shares. “We often pitch to television media but the difference here is I am carrying the show and it takes the press trips to the next level with me being on camera. I’ve worked with hotels in many countries across the world and there are still plenty of places I want to go to.”
For anyone wanting to get into travel PR, Cleo’s advice is to familiarise yourself with luxury -even in small ways – so you can really understand your client. She adds to be authentic as people gravitate towards this but most of all pay attention to the little details which define luxury. Cleo’s success shows that if you work hard and have enough passion and maximise your contacts you can make it.
