Bangkok, 1 February 2019 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) Newsroom has closed submissions for entry to its fourth annual TAT Newsroom “Blogger Thailand” competition and announced the winner’s selection criteria with the public invited to vote on their favourite submission from 1 to 27 February, 2019.
The main competition for bloggers residing outside of Thailand ran from 1 December, 2018, to 31 January, 2019. During that time, a total of 180 registrations and 53 submissions were received of which 44 entries, including blogs, photos and vlogs, were approved by the TAT Newsroom Team and uploaded to the website’s Entry 2019 Main Competition page.
The selection process for the six winners takes place this month. The names of the six lucky winners will be announced on 28 February.
Two winners will be selected by popular votes. The voting period is now open until 27 February. Winning entries in the popular vote category must receive a minimum of 5,000 “votes” to be eligible for prizes, or as deemed appropriate by the TAT Newsroom Team.
Entrants who share their entry on main social media channels, using #TATNewsroom and #BloggerThailand2019 hashtags and set it as public will receive an extra 1,000 extra points after the voting period ends.
Entrants who pin their entry post to their main social media page throughout the 27-day voting period will receive an extra 1,000 points after the voting period ends.
Another four winners will be chosen by a panel of judges and the TAT Newsroom Team, supported by colleagues from the TAT’s International PR Division Team.
The TAT Newsroom Team will rate all entries based on two key criteria worth 20 points. Entrant’s qualification as stated in the “Terms and Conditions” is worth up to 10 points. Entries that address the “Rules for Submission” is worth up to 10 points.
The TAT’s International PR Team and a panel of three expert judges will rate all entries based on three key criteria, worth a total of 120 points. Whether the entry addresses the competition’s theme as stated in the “Rules for Submission” is worth up to 40 points. Whether the entry promotes Thai tourism is worth up to 40 points. Finally, if the entry promotes a good image of Thailand is worth up to 40 points.
The panel of judges include Richard Barrow, who is generally regarded as Thailand’s preeminent travel blogger who is most active on Twitter (143k followers) @RichardBarrow; Luc Citrinot, a busy freelance journalist and consultant in tourism with over 20 years’ experience; Tom Racette, a writer and editor with decades of experience working in Thailand’s travel industry.
The six winners will receive a return airfare and the opportunity to go on an exclusive bespoke five-day/four-night trip that explores Phuket and Phang Nga provinces. Trip dates are tentatively set for the last week of March 2019 or the first week of April 2019.
For more information, please contact the TAT Newsroom Team at [email protected].
