As of April 1, 2010 Open Travel Users are invited to upload unlimited trip presentations, ideally consisting of photographic illustration complemented by descriptions of places, points of interest and hints for fellow travelers. Mind you, it’s not the destination that matters and fabulous pictures are not enough to make impression. This contest is not only about inspiring others to follow in your footsteps, but also making the experience easier for them!

Trip submissions will be accepted at http://opentravel.com/trip_contest until April 30, 2010. From the pool of all submitted presentations, Open Travel Users will nominate 10 trips that they think are most inspiring. Out of the selected 10, Open Travel editors will choose one that captures the essence of the travel experience in such a way that others are tempted to follow, and will award it with the main prize. Additionally, the 10 final participants will have their Open Travel accounts upgraded to PRO membership.

Open you mind with Open Travel. Take part in a photographic contest and pocket money prizes for as little effort as it takes to visit OpenTravel.com and upload your photos.

Open Travel announces the first edition of its travel photography contest, where visitors to Opentravel.com – at least 18 years of age and planet Earth residents – will have the opportunity to upload and share their works with other traveling and photography aficionados.

While the core idea of photography is not about competing, but rather about capturing the infinitely diverse beauty of the world and the satisfaction that comes from unveiling this to others, Open Travel has prepared two fantastic cash prizes in the amount of $1000 and $500 for Best Travel Photo and People’s Choice Best Travel Photo respectively.

As of September 21, 2009 participants are invited to upload unlimited photos taken during their voyages throughout the world, be it a weekend outing to the French countryside, a holiday in the Caribbean, a shopping spree at a souq in Morocco, or an African safari. Focus your cameras on just about anything you feel worthwhile.

Photo submissions will be accepted at Open Travel Photo Contest until October 23, 2009. From the pool of all submitted photographs, a panel of experts will choose one that excels in terms of photographic quality and the extent to which it captures the essence of a travel experience, place or event. Additionally, a separate prize will be awarded for the photograph that is voted best by the users. Winning photos will be featured on www.opentravel.com

Please find it attached below.

CorelDraw:

CorelDraw_OpenTravel_Logo.cdr

And PDF:

PDF_OpenTravel_Logo.pdf

Is the newly created OpenTravel.com such a place?

”We take loads of pictures and notes about our trips, but up till now there was no satisfactory place on the web to store and share them with others. Photo sharing websites are not good enough, and a standard travel blog is not exactly the form we expect. That’s what our idea stems from”, said Witold Stawarz, Chief Executive Officer of OpenTravel.com.

We believe an ideal place should first and foremost guarantee high web usability, which is what we are aiming at in OpenTravel.com. Ease of use and user-friendliness will always be our top priorities.

This place should also feature pictures, memories and visited places in an attractive way. The creators of OpenTravel.com are travelers themselves and they have given a lot of thought to how they would like to store their content so that everybody can enjoy it.

So many traveling people gathered in one place means a brilliant opportunity to communicate and socialize. Therefore, ensuring tools such as forums, discussion groups and a private messaging system is vital. Moreover, what OpenTravel.com is trying to facilitate is tracking the activity of friends, which is enabled owing to regular notifications about their new trips and other updates. With such option at hand, getting in touch with other travelers is fairly easy.

Soon the multitude of information posted will be used to create perfect travel guides, which are currently under construction.

But for now, enjoy sharing your trips. At last there’s a place where you can showcase your traveling memories and find inspiration for further voyages.

About OpenTravel.com

OpenTravel is a travel photo sharing, blogging and travel guide site, created for people who travel and need an ultimate place to share their trips. The company helps people to plan their trips, communicate with other travelers and keep travel memories in a well thought out, impressive way.

The website is supported by the European Union as an innovative enterprise oriented on whoever feels themselves a voyager. Visit us at http://opentravel.com

Here’s a list of email providers and social networks you can invite your friends from:

If that’s not enough, you can enter emails manually and we’ll send invitations there.

We all enjoy travelling. We all enjoy sharing our travel photos and memories with friends. We all enjoy reading about the world and its great wonders. And finally, we enjoy discussions and communication with other travelers.

That’s why we created Open Travel – a simply great website to share travel experience, plan trips and connect with other travelers.

We’re still in private beta, so if like our site and just can’t wait to start using it – contact us, and we’ll send you an invitation to join. We do care what you think, so send us your feedback.

A lot of work has been done, but there’s a lot  more to do. Currently we’re working on:

• Attractions database (so you can rate and recommend them)
• Travel guides (so you can learn more about popular travel destinations)
• Forums

If you want to read some great travel stories and articles, I’m sure you’ll find them in our expert travel blogs.

So….

The World is Open: Share & Explore!