Calling all internet savvy world travelers: Enter the Ultimate Thailand Explorers competition.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is calling on all Internet savvy world travelers to enter the Ultimate Thailand Explorers competition. Competitors get a free trip to Thailand and chance to win over $15,000 in cash and prizes.
The TAT invites travelers from around the world to apply to become contestants in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers competition, an exciting concept in integrated online travel marketing.
Five teams from across the globe will be provided with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: 6 expenses-paid days exploring the sights and attractions in five of Thailand’s world famous holiday destinations: Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui.
Each day the teams of competitors must visit the many fantastic attractions and activities at their chosen destinations and then share their experiences with the online community by uploading videos, photos, and stories on various websites including, youtube, facebook, twitter, and blogs.
Online voting for which team produces the most exciting and informative videos about the attractions and activities in their destination will determine who are the Ultimate Thailand Explorers; Participating teams and registered voters are eligible for more than $25,000 in cash, travel awards, and other fantastic prizes!
By sending the teams to these top destinations and allowing real travelers to showcase the exciting attractions and activities to the rest of the world, the event aims to ensure other travelers that Thailand is still a premier tourist destination and inspire them to visit Thailand and experience it all for themselves.
Mrs Juthaporn Rerngrosana, Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor for Marketing Communication explained the reasoning behind the event:
“The tourism industry has been affected from frequently false and certainly exaggerated information about the political instability in Thailand, much of which has been spread over the internet. The main purpose of this campaign is to enhance the positive perceptions about Thailand, to help regain tourists’ confidence in traveling to Thailand, and to create a more clear and balanced understanding of the conditions in Thailand to the worldwide media, especially through online media, such as bloging and social networking sites that have an impact on tourists’ travel making decisions.”
Application process and Selection of contestants:
Applications are open to teams of two (friends, siblings, lovers, family members, colleagues) who must submit a short but entertaining audition video explaining why they want to travel to Thailand and how they will promote their preferred destination to the world. After uploading their video to
www.youtube.com, applicants must fill out an application that states their preferred destination and describes their social media and internet savvy.
From the pool of applicants, a panel of judges will select 25 semifinalists, five teams for each destination, whose audition videos will be posted on
www.ultimatethailandexplorers.com for registered voters to select the five finalist teams.
The contest entry period begins on September 1st and runs until October 15th. After selecting the 25 semifinalists, online voting for the five finalists will run from October 19th until November 12th.
About the Event:
The five finalist teams competing in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers event will be flown to Bangkok on Emirates Airlines for an event briefing, welcome party, and press conference on December 9th. The following day each team will be sent to their respective destinations, accompanied by their local volunteer liaisons to participate in the main event from December 10th to the 15th.
The five teams will have six days to travel around their selected destinations and explore the many attractions, sights, activities, and other features found there. To promote the destinations, the contestants are required to share their daily experiences with a global audience by posting photos, videos, blogs, and travel stories with social media tools. After a period of online voting (December 10th - January 8th), the team that receives the most votes from online registered voters will be named the Ultimate Thailand Explorers and will receive $10,000 cash, a holiday package valued at $3,000 USD, round trip air tickets Bangkok – Chiang Mai, Blackberry cell phones, a 10,000 THB gift voucher at Siam Paragon, Spa treatments and other prizes.
Runners-up will also win randomly selected prize packages and two voters will win prize packages based on a lucky draw. Prize packages vary, but include Blackberry cell phones, free accommodation at premier Thai hotels in the five featured destinations, spa vouchers, event tickets and more. Winning teams will be announced on January 8th and a press conference with the grand prize winners of the Ultimate Thailand Explorers competition will be held on February 2, 2010.
