Hanna Lee Communications

What Hanna Lee Communications does

Hanna Lee Communications (HLC) is a private, founder-led multimedia PR and marketing agency founded in 2005 and headquartered in New York, with operational teams in Miami, London, and Hong Kong. The firm specializes exclusively in the hospitality, travel, bars, restaurants, spirits, wine, and luxury lifestyle sectors, serving enterprise clients such as Campari, Fever-Tree, Aviation Gin, The World's 50 Best Bars, NYC & Company, Tuscany Tourism Board, and Seedlip. HLC offers a vertically integrated service stack spanning strategic public relations (branding, media relations, press materials, media training, event management, trade relations, co-marketing, and crisis communications), a Digital Studio Division providing videography, photography, and social media production (including generative AI capabilities), book publishing PR through HLC Book Media, and the Hospitality Forward podcast.

The agency's business model is project-based professional services with custom-quoted engagements rather than disclosed pricing or recurring subscription revenue. Go-to-market is primarily direct enterprise engagement supplemented by event-driven acquisition through proprietary programs such as New York Bartender Week, Worldwide Bartender Week, the HLC Global Bartender Travel Scholarship, Meet the Media panels, and the Inspiring Leaders series. HLC monetizes both fee-for-service PR engagements and ecosystem participation — leveraging its community footprint to win enterprise mandates from spirits brands, hotel groups, tourism boards, and bars/restaurants. The agency has accumulated more than 350 national and international awards across its 20-year history, including multiple PR NEWS Platinum Awards, John Barleycorn Marketer of the Year (2019-2021), Bulldog Grand Prizes, and SABRE Gold, with the Observer recognizing it as a top specialty PR firm in hospitality for 2025.

Name

Hanna Lee Communications

Legal name

Hanna Lee Communications, Inc.

Website

https://hannaleecommunications.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hanna Lee Communications is a founder-led multimedia PR and marketing agency specializing in hospitality, travel, bars, restaurants, spirits, and luxury lifestyle. It serves enterprise clients from offices in New York, Miami, London, and Hong Kong.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Public Relations Services

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Technology & B2B PR (MPAAADAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Content Production (Video, Design, Copy, Studio) (BPAFAAAF)

Keywords

• Hospitality PR agency
• Luxury travel marketing
• Spirits brand communications
• Media relations services
• Experiential event marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. PR and Marketing Services: Professional services revenue from public relations, branding, media relations, press materials writing, media training, event management, crisis communications, and co-marketing services for hospitality, travel, and lifestyle clients

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels13 records

Core offering

Hanna Lee Communications is an award-winning multimedia PR and marketing agency that provides strategic public relations, branding, media relations, press materials, media training, event management, crisis communications, and co-marketing services to clients in the hospitality, travel, spirits, wine, bars, restaurants, and luxury lifestyle sectors. The agency operates a Digital Studio Division for videography, photography, and social media content creation, and runs signature hospitality industry events and a podcast to support brand visibility.

Product overview

Hanna Lee Communications (HLC) is an award-winning multimedia PR/marketing agency specializing in hospitality and luxury travel. The agency offers a comprehensive suite of services centered on strategic PR (branding, media relations, event management, crisis communications) and innovation offerings (book publishing, podcasting, experiential marketing). Their Digital Studio Division provides videography, photography, and social media services. The agency operates community-focused initiatives including the "Hospitality Forward" Podcast, HLC Book Media division, HLC Global Bartender Travel Scholarship, New York Bartender Week, and Worldwide Bartender Week. The company serves as global brand builders for hotels, bars, restaurants, spirits, and wine clients, celebrating their 20th anniversary with over 350 national and international awards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HLC Book Media: A groundbreaking division leveraging book publishing to help clients reach wider audiences and create lasting legacies. Published 'The Japanese Art of the Cocktail' which won a Spirited Award and was a Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2021.
• Hospitality Forward Podcast
• Digital Studio Division
• HLC Global Bartender Travel Scholarship
• Worldwide Bartender Week

Products and services

• Strategic PR Services
• Digital Studio Division
• HLC Book Media

Quantifiable outcome

• 350+ national and international awards including Best Global PR Campaign, Best Media Relations, Best Branding, PR Innovator of the Year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The World's 50 Best BarscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational organization for which HLC provides PR and media relations services, supporting their awards ceremonies and global events
• Portland Cocktail WeekminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHLC supports and promotes this cocktail conference as part of industry event ecosystem
• Tales of the CocktailcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor annual cocktail industry event where HLC participates, promotes scholarship winners, and conducts book media activities
• Negroni WeekcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal cocktail celebration that HLC previews and promotes as part of New York Bartender Week events
• Manhattan Cocktail ClassicminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNYC cocktail event that HLC supports and promotes
• Wisconsin Bartender WeekminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRegional partner for Worldwide Bartender Week initiative led by JC & Monique Cunningham of PufferFish in Milwaukee
• Kenya Bartender WeekminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInternational partner for Worldwide Bartender Week led by Hero bar team in Nairobi, Kenya
• PerriercoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of The World's 50 Best Bars awards, a key event in HLC's client ecosystem

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bullfrog & Baum: Bullfrog & Baum is a New York-based travel, hospitality, and lifestyle PR agency. It is a direct competitor to HLC, serving the same hotel, restaurant, spirits, and tourism verticals with similar retainer-style media relations and event work.
• LDPR: LDPR is a travel, hospitality, and lifestyle PR firm with decades of category experience. It directly competes with HLC for hotel, resort, tourism board, and lifestyle brand engagements and is one of the longest-tenured peers in HLC's niche.
• HL Group: HL Group is a lifestyle, hospitality, and entertainment PR and marketing agency headquartered in New York. It competes directly with HLC for hospitality, spirits, and luxury lifestyle clients and offers a comparable mix of media relations, influencer, and experiential services.
• J Public Relations: J/PR is a global hospitality, travel, and lifestyle public relations agency with offices in multiple U.S. and international cities. It overlaps directly with HLC's hospitality, spirits, and luxury verticals and pursues the same enterprise-tier brand-builder positioning.
• Alison Brod Public Relations: Alison Brod PR is a New York-based consumer PR agency focused on food, beverage, beauty, and lifestyle brands. It is a direct competitor for spirits, wine, and hospitality PR mandates and operates a similarly boutique, mid-market agency model.
• Quinn PR: Quinn PR is a hospitality, travel, and lifestyle public relations agency. It competes directly with HLC for hotel, destination, and spirits PR work and is a comparable specialist rather than a generalist holding-company agency.
• Susan Magrino Agency: Susan Magrino Agency is a luxury lifestyle, hospitality, and travel PR firm based in New York. It overlaps directly with HLC's luxury hotel, travel, and lifestyle client base and pursues the same high-end editorial placement model.
• Wagstaff Media & Marketing: Wagstaff is a boutique food, beverage, hospitality, and lifestyle PR and marketing agency. It targets the same spirits, wine, and bar/restaurant clients as HLC and competes for similar media relations and event-driven retainers.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HannaLeeCommunications
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hanna-lee-communications
• Instagraminstagram.com/hannaleepr
• TikToktiktok.com/@hannaleepr
• Xx.com/hannaleepr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hanna Lee Communications