The Great Travel Site Showdown - Finals

The finals of the Great Travel Site Showdown...Michigan v. Virginia are underway.

Let the voting begin.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Michigan vs. Virginia

After a thrilling (well, as thrilling as you can get online) semi-finals showdown which saw over 4,400 votes and a last-minute comeback via a 'viral' campaign from Virginia, the finals are set.

Michigan (George's Army) Vs. Virginia (The Lovers)

Congrats to our 3rd place, Illinois, and 4th place, Oregon, finishers.

We will give everyone in Michigan and Virginia a break over the weekend and start up the finals next Tuesday. Which will officially and finally declare one of these two sites as the undisputed, greatest DMO travel site ever!

Too much hype? Nah, just right.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Final Four

A quick reminder that the polls are currently open, for the next couple of days, for the Great Travel Site Showdown.

Currently, Michigan and Virginia are in the lead, but both Oregon and Illinois have time to close the gap.

Before we forget, thanks to everyone who participated in the Great Travel Site Showdown. We hope you have enjoyed the friendly competition as much as we have.

The Great Travel Site Showdown

Voting for the final 8 of the Great Travel Site Showdown finished last Friday with Michigan, Oregon, Virginia and Illinois all moving one step closer to be named the greatest travel website of all-time! Or at least the winner of this poll.

Voting and match-ups for the final group will start this Thursday.

That should give everyone plenty of time to get the word out, email friends, bribe public officials, etc, etc.

Thanks again to all who have voted so far, and good luck to our final competitors.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Semifinals Update

As many of you know, the blog, and more specifically the Blogger / Google Poll feature, have been experiencing some voting issues for the Great Travel Site Showdown.

So, to be as fair as possible in this semi-official poll, we will reopen the voting for the semifinals starting today. The polls will be new, meaning the original votes will not show in the tally, however, we will simply add a (+ whatever) next to the state currently in the lead.

Voting will be open until Friday. Hopefully it will work correctly this time.

Glad I don't own any stock in Google. Oh, wait, no I am not.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Semifinals Begin Tomorrow

Well, the semifinals of the Great Travel Site Showdown are set and voting begins tomorrow on the Travel 2.0 blog. Our final 8 is quite a varied group, spanning the entire country and quite a few website design styles. But, there can only be one winner.

Here is a preview of the match-ups:

Ohio vs. Michigan
North Carolina vs. Oregon
Hawaii vs. Virginia
New Hampshire vs. Illinois

All pairings will be available for voting tomorrow (Wednesday). Good luck all!

(Author's Note: For all of those whose state is already eliminated or are just bored with the Showdown, stay tuned for our next poll: 'The Top 20 Most Annoying Blog Polls of All Time!' We guarantee you'll be annoyed with it.)

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Round 2

Okay, a day late...sorry, we got busy yesterday with our other jobs. Anywho, in the first section of Round 2 Michigan, Oregon, Ohio and North Carolina all advanced to the semi-finals.

Today, we start the later half of Round 2 with the following match-ups:

Louisiana vs. New Hampshire
Florida vs. Virginia
Hawaii vs. Arizona
Illinois vs. Iowa

Why do I get the feeling that the Florida v. Virginia match-up will result in a lot of votes, some bad blood and a possible boycott of ESTO by Virginia?

And watch out Iowa, Illinois has been ready for this day since 1818.

Voting is live on the Travel 2.0 blog starting today. (Reading via email or RSS, visit the blog to vote)

Good luck all!

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Round 2

After an exciting opening round of competition, we have reached Round 2.

The winners from our opening round were:

Minnesota
Virginia
Hawaii
Florida
Iowa
Michigan
Montana
Ohio
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Arizona
Louisiana
Illinois

And the 3 top, second-place states:

Tennessee - 634
New Hampshire - 436
Oregon - 233

Round 2

So, let's get to the match-ups for Round 2, again, randomly paired with help from our friends at random.org. The second round will be one on one contests, with four groups available for voting each week.

Thursday, June 5th:

Wisconsin vs. Michigan
Montana vs. Oregon
Minnesota vs. Ohio
North Carolina vs. Tennessee

Thursday, June 12th:

Louisiana vs. New Hampshire
Florida vs. Virginia
Hawaii vs. Arizona
Illinois vs. Iowa

(Reading this post via email or RSS, visit the Travel 2.0 blog to vote.)

As you can see we have some intriguing match-ups for Round 2, with some traditional state rivalries that are sure to generate some interest.

Link To / Email

For your emailing / linking convenience, send the link below to your office, friends, cousins, etc. to ensure total domination over your smaller rivals:

http://traveltrendreport.blogspot.com/

The Great Travel Site Showdown Review

Miss a round of the showdown? Catch up with all of the voting on the Travel 2.0 blog.

Good luck all.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Groups 11, 12 and 13

Well, we are in the home stretch of Round 1 with only 3 groups left. Meanwhile, North Carolina and Wisconsin advanced to the second round with convincing wins in Groups 9 and 10 respectively.

Let's talk a look at the lineup for Groups 11, 12 and 13:

Group 11
41. Arizona
42. Idaho
43. Nevada
44. West Virginia

Group 12
45. Louisiana
46. Connecticut
47. Wyoming
48. Texas

Group 13
49. Massachusetts
50. New Hampshire
51. Illinois
52. Colorado

The voting closes for these final 3 groups next Tuesday. Good luck all!

Miss a round? Catch up on the Travel 2.0 blog.

The Great Travel Site Showdown Returns!

Okay, 2 trips to the hospital, 100+ hours of sick time and one less appendix later, we can finally get the showdown back on track.

A quick recap, Michigan won Group 6, Montana won Group 7 and Ohio won Group 8. Could we see an Ohio v. Michigan match-up in the second round? Better get your team ready George!

So far we have Minnesota, Virginia, Hawaii, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Montana and Ohio already in the second round.

Today, Groups 9 and 10:

Group 9
33. North Carolina
34. Nebraska
35. New York
36. New Mexico

Group 10
37. Rhode Island
38. Wisconsin
39. Missouri
40. South Dakota

Voting is available on the Travel 2.0 blog and open until Monday.

The Great Travel Site Showdown Returns with Groups 6, 7 & 8

You have one unscheduled ER visit for a quick appendectomy or, as I am thinking about it, my new diet, and the entire Travel Site Showdown quickly gets out of hand.

No worries on the ER visit, everything went well.

Anyway, onto to the showdown.

In Group 4, Florida outlasted Tennessee by a slim margin...recounts are still underway...in what was a true, two-state showdown for the group. A huge performance by both states, which sets the vote tally bar pretty high. However, don't overlook Delaware and Maryland, two states who were lost in the shuffle of this group, but who have pretty solid sites.

Group 5 produced what many would consider our first upset of the showdown as Iowa beat Puerto Rico and Pennsylvania. Nice showing Iowa.

Since we have fallen a bit behind, we will start voting for Groups 6, 7 & 8 today, with voting concluding next Tuesday.

Group 6
21. Vermont
22. South Carolina
23. Georgia
24. Michigan

Group 7
25. Utah
26. Oklahoma
27. Kentucky
28. Montana

Group 8
29. Indiana
30. Arkansas
31. Kansas
32. Ohio

Good luck all.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Group 5

On to Group 5. Could we see our first upset of the Showdown in Group 5?

Group 5
17. Pennsylvania
18. Mississippi
19. Iowa
20. Puerto Rico

Voting is available on the Travel 2.0 blog and open until Saturday.

Virginia Takes Group 2, Hawaii Wins Group 3 and Group 4 Voting Opens (a little late)

Well, Group 2 was quite a battle. Back and forth for the first few days, the lovers of Virginia finally overtook Oregon in the final tally. A true heavyweight fight. And I think it is safe to say we will probably see more of Oregon in Round 2 as one of our second-place finishers.

In Group 3, Hawaii quietly beat out Alabama and New Jersey.

Finally, voting for Group 4 is officially open. Another potentially huge match-up, Florida and Tennessee look to be the early favorites...of course, I am sure there is no way Visit Florida or the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development could get close to the vote total we saw from Oregon and Virginia. And don't count out Delaware, a small state with a big website.

Prove me wrong Group 4.

Group 4 (Group of Death)
13. Tennessee
14. Florida
15. Delaware
16. Maryland

Voting is available on the Travel 2.0 blog and open until Friday.

Remember to tell us why you voted in the comments section.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Group 3

After the 'Battle of Columbia' between our friends at Oregon and Virginia (700+ votes and counting), we move onto Group 3, which features more strong contenders for the title, including the islanders from Hawaii.

Group 3
9. Hawaii
10. Alabama
11. New Jersey
12. North Dakota

Voting is available at the Travel 2.0 blog and open until Saturday.

And remember to tell us why you voted in the comments section.

Minnesota Takes Group 1

The race for Group 1 finished a little tighter than originally thought with Minnesota taking the win over a tight battle for second among Maine, California and D.C. Minnesota now moves onto Round 2.

Group 1
1. Maine - 23%
2. Minnesota - 33%
3. California - 22%
4. District of Columbia - 20%

Original poll results available in the right column of the blog.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Group 2

Minnesota is out front in Group 1, pulling away from the spirited Maine Office of Tourism.

Group 2 is up next, with several favorites including Oregon and Virginia. Perhaps this should have been the group of death.

Group 2
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. Alaska
8. Virginia

Voting is available on the Travel 2.0 blog and open until Tuesday.

More on the Great Travel Site Showdown is available at blog.

Remember to tell us why you voted in the comments section.

The Great Travel Site Showdown - Group 1

Let the battle begin.

Group 1
1. Maine
2. Minnesota
3. California
4. District of Columbia

Voting is available at traveltrendreport.blogspot.com and open until Saturday.

More on the Great Travel Site Showdown is available at the Travel 2.0 blog.

Remember to tell us why you voted in the comments section.

The Great Travel Site Showdown

As a member of the travel industry, I am constantly looking at what my peers and counterparts throughout the country are doing. And quite often, co-workers and constituents ask me who has the best website.

I have some standard answers (none of which will be divulged here), but that got me thinking...we should really have a vote to see which website would come out on top. If only we had a blog to run it on...

So, over the next several weeks, the Travel 2.0 blog will be hosting the first annual 'Great Travel Site Showdown' pitting the best travel sites around the nation, plus our friends from D.C. and Puerto Rico, against each other in a winner-take all contest! (Prizes to be determined later, but pride and boasting rights are included!)

Groups

Ala March Madness, the states are pooled into groups of 4 (13 in all, randomly generated by random.org), with one winner emerging from each group. Those winners, plus the next 3 highest second-place finishers* will move onto the quarter-finals, etc, etc. until we can declare a winner.

Voting will take place on the Travel 2.0 blog (see the top of the page) each Tuesday and Friday, with voting open for 5 days.

Judging Guidelines

Voters should take into consideration the design, ease of use, available travel information and technology used in the site when making their decision. Or, if you want to suck up to your boss, just vote over and over for your state!

Link To / Email

For your emailing / linking convenience, send the link below to your office, friends, cousins, etc. to ensure total domination over your smaller rivals:

http://traveltrendreport.blogspot.com/

Groups / Schedule

Group 1
Tuesday, April 1
1. Maine
2. Minnesota - Group Winner
3. California
4. District of Columbia

Group 2
Friday, April 4
5. Oregon
6. Washington
7. Alaska
8. Virginia

Group 3
Tuesday, April 8
9. Hawaii
10. Alabama
11. New Jersey
12. North Dakota

Group 4 (Group of Death)
Friday, April 11
13. Tennessee
14. Florida
15. Delaware
16. Maryland

Group 5
Tuesday, April 15
17. Pennsylvania
18. Mississippi
19. Iowa
20. Puerto Rico

Group 6
Friday, April 18
21. Vermont
22. South Carolina
23. Georgia
24. Michigan

Group 7
Tuesday, April 22
25. Utah
26. Oklahoma
27. Kentucky
28. Montana

Group 8
Friday, April 25
29. Indiana
30. Arkansas
31. Kansas
32. Ohio

Group 9
Tuesday, April 29
33. North Carolina
34. Nebraska
35. New York
36. New Mexico

Group 10
Friday, May 2
37. Rhode Island
38. Wisconsin
39. Missouri
40. South Dakota

Group 11
Tuesday, May 6
41. Arizona
42. Idaho
43. Nevada
44. West Virginia

Group 12
Friday, May 9
45. Louisiana
46. Connecticut
47. Wyoming
48. Texas

Group 13
Tuesday, May 13
49. Massachusetts
50. New Hampshire
51. Illinois
52. Colorado

Good luck all!

*By only selecting 1 second place finisher we would have ended up with a mathematically challenging 14 states in the second round, and then 7 in the quarters. So, but taking the next 3 highest finishers the tourney will advance to 16, then 8, 4, etc.