CheapOair’s “Traveler of the Year” Challenge Journeys on to Phase Two

NEW YORK, September 5, 2012

Today, leading online travel agency CheapOair launched phase two of its “Traveler of the Year” competition in search of the traveler who can best demonstrate how to travel the world for less. Ten semi-finalists have been chosen for an opportunity to advance to the third and final round, where two finalists will be sent on a trip to either China or India on flights sponsored by Emirates, each with $7,500 of travel money courtesy of CheapOair.

During this phase, the social community will cast their votes online to select the two finalists. Voting starts today and runs through September 21 on the “Traveler of the Year” website.

To encourage social media followers’ involvement, CheapOair will host micro-contests throughout phase two allowing fans to win prizes via Twitter and Facebook.Facebook fans who share their favorite semi-finalist video via the “Traveler of the Year” website will be entered to win CheapOair’s Travel the World for Less Tool Kit, valued at $300.

Throughout phase two, CheapOair’s Twitter followers can share their favorite video, add hashtag #traveltheworld4less to any tweet or follow CheapOair for the chance to win a $200 American Express gift card.
Anyone who votes for their favorite video will be automatically entered to win $500 in future travel with CheapOair.

“Our ‘Traveler of the Year’ competition has already been a great success, and we are looking forward to phase two in which our fans and followers will decide who they want to ‘Travel the World for Less,'” said Peter Howard, chief marketing officer at CheapOair. “The campaign will continue over the next few months as our two finalists, and ultimately the winner, are selected.”

CheapOair’s 10 semi-finalists were carefully selected by a panel of judges who reviewed entrants’ submissions and evaluated their videos based on creativity, demonstrated travel experience, ability to create quality content and on-screen presence. The 10 semi-finalists for “Traveler of the Year” are:

  • Captain & Clark: Captain Chris Staudinger and Tawny Clark met at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2008 and have since been traveling the world together in pursuit of taking on different “extreme” adventures, including everything from extreme hiking to extreme cooking.
  • Kyle O’Donnel: Fascinated by his father’s stories of traveling as a photographer in the military, Cyle traveled during every semester break in college to learn how to compose, capture and develop his photography.
  • Giovanni Silva: Giovanni is an independent film director, photographer, editor and world traveler who has journeyed to 37 different countries around the globe.
  • Keaton Davis: A prize-winning videographer, Keaton uses his 10 years of travel experience in Europe, Central and South America and Australia as leverage.
  • Kristen Van Nest: When not working as a global branding specialist, Kristen is a world traveler who has been to over 30 European cities.
  • Lauren Rains: Lauren is the co-founder of Outdoor Minded Magazine and founder of The Mad to Live blog, which highlights stories from the road based on her adventures in travel and entrepreneurship.
  • Mannie Boitz: Mannie is a program assistant who hails from King Cove, Alaska, a community of 700. Now a resident of Wasilla, she loves to climb and is excited to travel the world.
  • Robert Guiterrez: Founders of the His and Her Travel blog, Robert and his wife document their time teaching and traveling across the world.
  • Ryan McDevitt: Ryan is a world traveler who has visited close to 40 countries, documenting each experience in his online gallery of photographs from around the world.
  • Todd Van Duzer: Todd is a marketing major in the Honors College at Arizona State University who has traveled to 25 countries studying identity, branding, social interaction, body language and stress-free productivity.

Host of the “Traveler of the Year” contest, travel enthusiast Paul Rogers will be launching phase two and introducing the semi-finalists via a video blog. An avid traveler who continually looks for life’s next adventure, some of Paul Rogers’ top experiences include skydiving in New Zealand, climbing Mt. Whitney in California, seeing the Matterhorn in Switzerland and golfing in Ireland. All of these experiences are documented for his web travel adventure show “Where’s Walnuts?”

SOURCE: CheapOair

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