Dream of Being a Travel Writer? "Free" Vacations? Sound Off and Tell Us Why


SOURCE: Wyndham Worldwide

PARSIPPANY, NJ–(Marketwire – October 4, 2010) –  Women on Their Way by Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), the hospitality industry’s longest-running branded program dedicated entirely to female travelers, is looking to send ten globetrotters on vacations for “free” (aka using Wyndham Rewards loyalty points) in exchange for travel blogs and columns that will be posted on the female-friendly web site.

Now open for entries, The Local Nation Contest encourages all travelers to submit an essay of 350 words or less, plus a photo or video on why they should be selected to win vacations from Women on Their Way. All entries will be posted on www.WomenonTheirWay.com with a social media component that enables participants to ‘share their submission’ through Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. A voting period will begin on January 4, 2011, allowing the public to award a ‘thumbs up’ vote to their favorite submission. The top ten entries, as decided by a combination of Women on Their Way Judges’ scores and the results of online voting, will then be named to the Sounding Board. All winners will be announced by February 14, 2011 and posted on the Women on Their Way website and Facebook page.

“We received an overwhelming number of entries in last year’s contest compelling us to present the opportunity for passionate travelers to enter again this year,” said Alyson Johnson, vice president of corporate communications and writer of the Women on Their Way blog, Adventures with Alyson. “What an amazing group of women we had as our winners last year. These savvy travel bugs used their points so wisely — romantic getaways to Panama, family reunions in Australia, a voluntourism trip with a stop in Bangkok. I can’t wait to see what this next year will bring with our Local Nation winners.”

The ten Sounding Board members will receive 200,000 Wyndham Rewards points to be used to take a minimum of two vacations, a Flip SlideHD video camera to capture memorable moments, a McKenna Travel Folio by Pottery Barn, the opportunity to be a featured blogger on the WomenOnTheirWay.com Local Nation Sounding Board, and two American Express Gift Cards with a card value of $400USD each, to be used for food and fun on their vacations. Each of the ten prize packages is valued at a total of $1,912 USD.

“Being selected to represent the Local Nation Sounding Board is an honor and fantastic opportunity,” said Kathy Ameche, traveler-in-chief of womanroadwarrior.com, one of the ten 2010 Local Nation contest winners. “As an avid traveler, I am thrilled with the multitude of destinations offered within the Wyndham Rewards portfolio and can’t wait to share my experiences with fellow travelers through this program.”

The Local Nation features blog entries, pictures and fun videos of the contest winners and their vacations at various hotels, rentals and/or timeshare properties within the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands.

To join the conversation with “local” experts in the Women on Their Way community, become a fan of the Women on Their Way by Wyndham Worldwide’s Facebook page and start talking today.

About Women on Their Way
Women on Their Way is an online resource for business and leisure travelers to find everything they need to plan and book their next trip. The website, www.WomenOnTheirWay.com, includes expert advice on destinations, hotels, timeshare resorts and vacation rentals, plus special deals and packages.

Women on Their Way is the hospitality industry’s longest-running branded program entirely dedicated to female travelers. Since the program’s launch in 1995, Wyndham has supported women travelers as they’ve emerged from a niche market to a formidable force, listening and responding to women’s feedback, which has resulted in a better hotel experience for all travelers, including the addition of various amenities to hotel rooms such as coffee makers, full-length mirrors and healthier room service menus.

While once a single hotel chain program, Wyndham Worldwide expanded the program across all brands and businesses offering over 87,000 hotels, vacation rentals and resorts in 100 countries.

About Wyndham Rewards
The Wyndham Rewards loyalty program is the largest in the lodging industry based on the number of participating hotels. Points can be redeemed at www.wyndhamrewards.com for hotel night stays at participating Wyndham Hotel Group properties in North America, Europe, China, Latin America and the Caribbean. Points can also be redeemed for other rewards including airline tickets, resort vacations, name-brand merchandise, rental cars, rail points or services at many popular restaurants and stores.

About Wyndham Worldwide
As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses nearly 7,200 hotels and approximately 607,000 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals offers leisure travelers, including its 3.8 million members, access to over 80,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 155 vacation ownership resorts serving over 820,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 25,000 employees globally.

For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit the Company’s web site at www.wyndhamworldwide.com.

CONTACT:
Alyson R. Johnson
Vice President, Communications
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
973.753.6759
[email protected]

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