GuideGecko’s travel writing contest

by Brenda Yun on


It was just about four months ago that Gadling reported the launch of a great new travel resource and bookstore, GuideGecko.com. Now, GuideGecko, the innovative publishing platform for travel, lifestyle and entertainment guides, has just announced its first travel writing contest in conjunction with the world’s largest book fair in Frankfurt, Germany.

From now to September 24, authors from all over the world can submit their own travel, lifestyle or entertainment guides, and the winning titles will be showcased at the fair. The top prize is a personal trip to the fair in October 2009.
The contest is open to everybody, from casual writers to bloggers and established authors. Topics can span from anything and everything under the sun, as long as they are travel, lifestyle or entertainment related. With no page limit, the authors have the freedom and flexibility to write their guides the way they want. Submissions can be new titles as well as existing titles previously published on GuideGecko or elsewhere.

Upon submission, the guides will be published instantly and listed on GuideGecko’s front page, where they will receive maximum visibility. Customers and viewers can choose to vote for and even order these guides immediately. Participation in the contest is free and the authors will receive full royalties and retain the copyrights of their guides published on www.guidegecko.com.

The winners of the ‘GuideGecko Writing Contest’ will be decided through online voting, which starts immediately. The first prize is a personal trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair for the winning author. In addition, the top 3 titles will be showcased on the fair. Other prizes include a selection of Lonely Planet travel guides and subscriptions to travel magazines.

Closing date is 24 September 2009 and prize winners will be announced on 25 September 2009. For more information and to enter the contest, visit www.guidegecko.com/writing-contest.

“Best job in the world” winner looking for assistants

by Katie Hammel on

Ben Southall, the guy getting paid A$150,000 to gallivant around the Great Barrier Reef Region (and write about it) has come under fire for not blogging all that often. Tourism Queensland, who sponsored the “best job in the world” contest, blamed the lack of blog posts on poor Internet access and the fact that well, Ben’s just too busy “working”. Somehow, I don’t think those of us who spend our days in a windowless office have much sympathy for poor Ben.

To help Ben with some of his workload, he and Tourism Queensland are planning on launching another contest – this time to find four assistants. At this point there are no additional details on the positions or what the application process will entail, but Ben promises he’ll give us the scoop soon. Hopefully, he can find the time.

Tell your best travel story and win a Hostelworld.com voucher

by Katie Hammel on

Think you have the ultimate travel story? Hostelworld.com is celebrating its 10th anniversary and wants to hear about your best travel adventure of the last decade. Tell your inspiring, amazing, crazy or hilarious tale and you may win a €500 travel voucher.

Stories must be between 500 and 1500 words and be accompanied by a photo. The writer of the story selected as the best will receive the grand prize voucher, while nine other winners will be awarded a €50 Amazon card. Contest winners will be announced on October 7th.

Entries must be submitted by September 30th, so get writing!

You could be Danica Patrick’s backseat driver

by Brenda Yun on

AirTran Airways is teaming up with Danica Patrick and the Indy Racing Experience to give seven lucky winners and their guests the ride of their lives on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To complete the journey, winners will also receive two roundtrip flights on AirTran Airways, a $100 Hertz certificate, lunch and one night of hotel accommodations to prepare for the big day on Friday, October 2.

All you have to do is log onto http://www.airtran.com/danica before September 1, 2009 and register using their AirTran Airways A+ Rewards frequent flyer number. Winners will be chosen on September 8. For consumers that are not already A+ Rewards members, registration is free. Participants must be 18 years of age or older to be eligible.


If you don’t know who Danica Patrick is, then I don’t think you’ll be that interested in this silly little contest. I imagine most entrants will be of the male variety, and would love the opportunity to pull on Danica’s throttle — or be her backseat driver for a day.

Good luck — and if you win, tell Danica that Gadling sent you!

Enter STA Travel contest to win trip for two

by Alison Brick on

Would you turn down a trip that would take you and a friend anywhere in the world?

That’s what STA Travel is offering up, in a sweepstakes with Pier 1 Imports.

The grand prize winner gets the trip, plus two $1000 gift cards from Pier 1. Three runners-up get a $500 Pier 1 gift card and a $500 STA Travel gift card.

The great thing about this is it’s open to anyone 18 years and older. Usually STA contests are limited to 18-25 year-olds.

Enter online by midnight (CST) on Sunday, August 30th. Winners will be announced Tuesday, September 15th.