Second Tourism Blogging Championship winners announced!
The second edition of Tourism Blogging Championship staged by Polish Tourism Organisation is now over. The first place went to Anita and Paweł Skowera running the 101countriesbefore50 blog. The married couple based in Pińczów also carried out an additional task commissioned by the competition’s official partner - PKP Intercity railway company. The total pool of the competition’s prizes amounted to more than 120,000 PLN. First-place winners received prizes valued at more than 30,000 PLN.
The objective of Tourism Blogging Championship was to compile promotional materials intended to encourage individual tourists and social media and Internet users. The Championship was based on rivalry between bloggers and regional tourist organizations supporting them.
“’Tourism and jobs: A better future for all’ is the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day celebrations. The efforts of Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Polish Tourism Organisation are not only aimed at the promotion of Polish tourism, but also support the entrepreneurs that decided to invest in the industry. The Tourism Blogging Championship project is intended to inspire Poles to discover unexplored areas of their country”, explained Witold Bańka, Minister of Sport and Tourism.
The undertaking involved close to 60 bloggers from all over Poland. In the first stage competition jury selected 16 participants to act as ambassadors of particular regions. Next, influencers worked with regional tourist organizations on developing itineraries and then set out on tours of the country’s most attractive areas. Each of them had to publish a minimum of three blog posts, shoot two videos and publish nine social media posts via Facebook and Instagram to showcase attractive but still little-known landmarks located in the region represented by a given blogger. The top 16 bloggers received remuneration of 4,500 PLN net awarded by Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT). The list of winners was based on the votes of Internet users, the reach generated by blogs and the jury’s decision. The first-place winner received 14,500 PLN (net), with 10,500 PLN awarded for the second place, and 9,000 PLN - for the third place.
“We are very satisfied with the final outcome of the project. The promotional materials created by bloggers in the second edition of the competition represented really high quality. The initiative generated hundreds of photos and posts, whose total reach exceeded 3 million viewers. I would like to congratulate the winners and thank the PKP Intercity company for its dedication. Once again it supported our operations aimed at boosting the number of domestic trips”, said Robert Andrzejczyk, President of POT.
Poland’s flagship rail carrier PKP intercity, an official partner of the second edition of the competition, prepared a special task for the bloggers, which consisted of coming up with an interesting and creative way of emphasising the advantages of travelling by train and showing Poland from the perspective of a train passenger. Out of all participants who undertook the additional task, a jury established by the carrier selected three winners. Special awards included vouchers for PKP Intercity trains: an annual golden card of 15,800 PLN (gross), a six-month silver card of 8,400 PLN, as well as a three-month blue card of 4,500 PLN.
“I am very glad that by supporting Tourism Blogging Championship we could become involved in the promotion of less obvious places on Poland’s tourist map. I believe that our country continues to feature many areas boasting huge tourist potential. You can easily reach most of them by trains, which are becoming an increasingly popular mode of transport in our country and a highly recommended method of promoting eco-tourism”, added Marek Chraniuk, President of PKP Intercity.
Anita and Paweł Skowera, who run the 101countriesbefore50 blog, won both Tourism Blogging Championship and the additional task prepared by PKP Intercity. Travellers representing the voivodeship of Świętokrzyskie received a prize pool estimated at more than 30,000 PLN.
“We are very pleased with the victory. It came as a complete shock as we were not really anticipating it. We would like to thank President Marcin Piętak and his team of the Regional Tourist Organisation of the Świętokrzyskie voivodeship for their enormous assistance, support and professional approach. This success would not be possible without them. Also a big thank you to the wonderful residents of Świętokrzyskie voivodeship and their numerous votes. We would like to encourage everyone to visit the picturesque and serene region of Ponidzie”, said Anita and Paweł Skowera, winners of the second edition of Tourism Blogging Championship.
List of competition winners:
1st PLACE:
Anita and Paweł Skowera, Świętokrzyskie voivodeship
101countriesbefore50
2nd PLACE
Magdalena and Jacek Zbieraj, Lubuskie voivodeship zbierajsie.pl
3rd PLACE
Patrycja Jaskot, Mazowieckie voivodeship
travelover.pl
DISTINCTIONS:
Patrycja Kornas, Śląskie voivodeship
powroty.do
Katarzyna Łaskawiec and Tomasz Sawirski, Małopolskie voivodeship
Winners of the additional competition category “Poland through the windows of PKP Intercity trains”
1st PLACE:
Anita and Paweł Skowera, Świętokrzyskie voivodeship
101countriesbefore50
2nd PLACE
Anita Demianowicz, Pomorskie voivodeship
banita.travel.pl
3RD PLACE
Katarzyna Łaskawiec and Tomasz Sawirski, Małopolskie voivodeship
