Joint Award from StepUp Travel, Xola Consulting, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, and Matador Network

StepUp Travel, Xola Consulting, Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), and Matador Network are jointly sponsoring an award for this year's Geotourism Challenge in order to bring more visibility to responsible providers by offering a prize package combining industry-wide networking, brand and product consulting, and web-based marketing services. The prize package will provide a valuable set of benefits to help propel a business forward. Total value estimated at $4,637.

ATTA is the leading global adventure travel association, comprised of industry leaders from tourism boards, tour operators and lodging providers, journalists, gear companies, service providers, media and marketing experts, and consultants. The ATTA hosts an annual, global summit to bring the adventure travel industry together—the next summit is to be held in Chiapas, Mexico October 2011.

Xolaoffers marketing strategy and development consulting services to destinations and tourism companies, with emphasis on building responsible tourism industry to stimulate local economies and preserve local heritage and natural resources. Since 2004, Xola has provided business strategy, operations management and industry research for clients such as the Tourism Department of the Government of Assam, Mongolia National Tourism Orgaization (MNTO), ATTA, The Tourism Commission of Peru, Volunteer Morocco, and Conservation International.

StepUp Travel is a web-based marketing platform for tourism providers and operators who offer unique cultural services, activities, and accommodations. Tourism providers can create accounts on StepUp Travel and publish information about their companies and individual listings of each and every service they offer in order to reach the broadest audience of travelers. StepUp Travel distributes this content via various marketing channels in order to increase direct bookings, in addition to offering online and offline marketing resources, social media marketing tools, and analytics to enable users to market themselves more effectively.

MatadorNetwork is a network of travelers, adventurers, and grassroots organizations. It is the most-read independent travel publication on the Web. Part of the Matador Network, MatadorU is an online education center for the advancement of travel writers, travel photographers, and filmmakers.

Criteria

- All tourism providers will be considered, worldwide.
- Winners will be selected based on the most responsible tourism model. We will evaluate "responsible tourism products" based on the following:
- is an established tourism business in operation for at least two years, already sustained by its own self-generated revenue.
- itineraries that include tourism experiences that lead to deeper understanding of the local people, culture, and/or natural wildlife
- percentage of profits directly supporting community or environment programs aimed at preserving or enhancing the natural and/or cultural assets of the region.
- has established collaboration with local community organizations and/or leaders who help sustain efforts to preserve natural resources such as water, rivers, wildlife, and/or the cultural assets of the region.
- has an established plan for documenting and reporting measurable progress of the efforts stated above.

WINNER BENEFITS

StepUp Travel:

• 3 year subscription to a StepUp premium account – normally $597
• content management (portfolio of listings, photos, videos, traveler reviews)
• distribution to seven major channels online
• detailed analytics report tracking traffic, inquiries, and online success
• 1 year social media monitoring service to target customers for your services - $350

Xola Consulting:

• Off The Radar Newsletter & Visual Blog
• Feature Article in Off The Radar Travel – to appear in newsletter and on StepUp Travel
• Kickoff and year-end business strategy analysis by Xola consultants - $1,250

ATTA – Adventure Travel Trade Association:

• Paid registration fee to the Adventure Travel World Summit in Chiapas, Mexico October 2011 – normal cost $1,095 (travel and lodging not included)

Matador Travel:

• 3-month online course from Matador Travel in Travel Writing and Photography - emphasis on learning how to write compelling content that will facilitate viral marketing and build traffic for business websites ($350 value).

5 Top Finalists

• 1 year subscription to StepUp Travel premium account ($199 value per account)