Tweet yourself to Hawaii!

by Brenda Yun on

Talk about a sweet tweet deal: Marriott Resorts Hawaii is running a social media contest where 25 lucky winners will receive all-expense paid trips for two to a designated Marriott resort on Kauai, Oahu, Maui, or Hawaii’s Big Island.

You can enter the contest via Twitter, Facebook, and email. The winners are announced on Twitter, so you’ll need to sign up to follow @MarriottHawaii to see if you win.

Here is what the lucky winners will receive:

  • Roundtrip for two on Hawaiian Airlines from any of its ten U.S. West Coast gateway cities: Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego.
  • A five-night stay at one of Marriott resorts in Hawaii: JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa, Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club, Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa or Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa.
  • Rental car, courtesy of Hertz.
  • $100 per day resort dining credit.
  • Access to fun activities and attractions on all islands.
  • Please note: All trips must be completed by December 20, 2009. Winners will be announced on Facebook and Twitter, and also will be notified by email. Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize, or a new winner will be randomly selected.

If that’s tweeting sweetness, here’s an even sweeter deal: Submit a video on why you love Hawaii for a chance to win a TweetUp Trip for TWELVE! To enter this contest, submit your YouTube video link to www.marriotthawaiitweets.com by December 20, 2009. The public will be asked to judge their favorite from a selection of finalists. The one with the most votes will receive:

  • Roundtrip for winner and 11 friends/family, courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines from any of its U.S. West Coast gateway cities
  • Seven-night stay at any two Marriott resorts in Hawaii
  • One luau dinner and show
  • A commemorative Hawaii state quarter
  • A keepsake group photo
  • 25,000 Marriott Rewards Points for the winner

The winner will be selected in January.

I’m loving all these “tweet” trip giveaways! You all know I’m from Hawaii, so it wouldn’t be right for me to enter, but I’m rooting for you all to join me in my tropical paradise!

Voyage.tv’s Tweet Your Trip contest

by Brenda Yun on

Hooray for vacation giveaways! Voyage.tv is sponsoring six weekly “Tweet Your Trip” contests through the end of October, and it’s such a simple contest that, if you tweet, you really should enter! All you have to do is describe your perfect getaway in 140 characters or less.

There are two ways to enter:

  • Via Twitter: To enter via Twitter, you must be a registered user of Twitter and a follower of @voyagetv. Once you have completed registration and elected to follow voyage.tv, send a Tweet to @voyagetv describing your dream trip.
  • Via Website: To enter online, visit the web site tweetyourtrip.com, complete the entry form with the information requested, follow the instructions to enter your Submission and click “Submit Entry”.

Entries will be judged based on creativity, originality, feasibility, and adherence to the week’s theme. You need to “Tweet Your Trip” by Thursday, and winners will be notified on Friday.

So get tweeting — and good luck!

Holiday Inn opens NYC hotel made entirely of key cards

by Katie Hammel on

As part of an effort to build buzz around the relaunch of 1200 Holiday Inn hotels this month, the lodging chain has opened a very special hotel in New York. It’s not your average hotel though. It’s made entirely of hotel key cards.

The “Key Card Hotel” was built by Guinness World Record holder Byran Berg, who first broke the record for “World’s Tallest House of Freestanding Playing Cards” in 1992 at the tender age of 17. Since then, he’s broken the record 10 times. Now he’s created a life-size (though small at 400 square feet) hotel made of key cards. Visitors can’t actually stay in the “hotel” (and would you really want to sleep on a bed of plastic?), but they can come marvel at Berg’s creation, which is made of 200,000 cards and weighs two tons, tour the lobby, guest room, and bathroom, and learn about the Holiday Inn’s “Keys to Change” promotion and the many improvements that will be taking place at the brand’s properties. By the end of 2010, over 3000 hotels in the chain will be updated, at a cost of $1 billion, making it the “largest relaunch in the history of the hospitality industry”.

As part of the promotion, guests can enter to win free nights at one of the relaunched Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express locations around the world. One grand prize winner will also receive a 3-day, 2-night trip to any Holiday Inn hotel in the world, including round-trip air transportation. To enter, just sign up on the promotion’s website.

The Key Card Hotel will be open at New York’s South Street Seaport from now until September 21. During the promotion, Berg will also create a 9-foot tall replica of the Statue of Liberty using playing cards in the lobby. The online contest runs until October 22nd.

Twitter to win free MatadorU tuition

by Katie Hammel on

Last month, Brenda announced the Matador Network’s new travel writing curriculum, Matador U. The 12-week course is geared towards travel writers at all levels in their careers, from those who are just dreaming of a getting their first piece published to writers with years of experience.

The course covers topics like crafting the perfect pitch letter, using social media to promote your work, honing your voice, working with editors and going on press trips. Students also have access to exclusive market leads and forums where they can discuss what they are learning with other students. I’m on week two of the class and finding it to be very helpful and motivating.

The course isn’t cheap at $225 (for the first 100 students, then it goes up to $350) but if you can’t quite afford it, you may still be able to participate. Every month, Matador will award free tuition to one of its Twitter followers. The rules are simple. Just follow @MatadorNetwork and send them a tweet saying you want to win free tuition. If you are selected, they’ll contact you with details on how to register for the course free of charge. If you’ve ever considered a career as a travel writer, or if you are already getting published and want to move to the next level, here’s your chance to take the course for free.

Cast your vote in Trazzler’s big summer contest

by Katie Hammel on

Trazzler, a website that provides travel inspiration through destination descriptions submitted by users and freelance writers, runs a monthly contest that usually offers a prize of $250, and a contract to write 10 trips for the website. For their summer contest however, the team at Trazzler decided to up the ante.

They’ve teamed up with NYCgo, AKA Hotels, and jetBlue to offer one lucky winner an amazing prize – a 2-week writer-in-residence contract in New York City (including free flight and accommodations), and $10,000 to write 30 trips about his or her experiences in the city. Over 800 entries fitting the theme “oasis” were submitted. 200 moved on to the semi-final round, in which the public can vote on their favorite. The ten trips with the most votes when the voting ends (Monday at 7:59pm Eastern time), will move on to round three, where a panel of judges will choose the grand prize winner.

I entered the contest, and have made it to the semi-finals, where I’m fighting to stay in the top ten. You can vote* for my trip, check out the others in the top ten, or “trazzle” through the site to find your perfect travel inspiration.

*To vote, you need to register for the website, which is easy to do if you sign up with Facebook. Then just click “wishlist” under the trip to vote. You can only vote once per trip, but you can vote for multiple submissions.