Keeping up with social media seems daunting, especially for those marketers whose professional careers predate it and who are trying to adapt. Laura Davidson Public Relations, which has been around for 25 years, aims to stay on top of the phenomenon and proved it recently when it held its first Social Media Summit in New York. While it has its own social media experts on staff, LDPR partnered with a company called Gather + Grow Media to partner on the event, attended by LDPR staff, clients and media.

Whether it's a multimillion-dollar national ad campaign or a few weeks on local cable, TV is a huge piece of many travel marketers' advertising strategy. In either case, it isn't cheap. And knowing that, we should be asking, is it effective?

Travel brands should take the lead on making the world a better, kinder, friendlier place.