We’re coming to the end of our first week of Passports with Purpose and we’re about 2000 dollars short of our goal. Considering this is only the fourth day we’ve been open, this is kind of amazing. Certainly, we felt confident that we’d be able to succeed, but it’s worth noting that we couldn’t have had this huge head start with out the generosity of our sponsors. You won’t be too surprised to learn that I have more than a one-off relationship with some of these folks, I’ve added some personal notes to the sponsor boilerplate that’s included here. If you’re so inclined, do click through and find out what these folks do — we couldn’t have the amazing success we’ve had so far with this year’s Passports with Purpose without their help.
Platinum Sponsor
Virtuoso is the industry’s leading leisure travel network. This by-invitation-only organization comprises more than 6,000 elite travel advisers associated with over 300 agencies in 22 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, as well as over 1,000 of the world’s best travel providers and premier destinations.
Being a client of a Virtuoso travel adviser means your travels will be customized to your specific desires by a foremost expert, and that you’ll be recognized as one of the most prestigious guests in the world with all the privileged access, perks and service that implies.
Silver Sponsors
Got Passport: Will Travel, We’ll Serve
Living Small, Giving Large. We are a family of three, with a passion for travel, seeking out new experiences, meeting new people, and living simply.
Austin, Texas-based HomeAway, Inc. operates the world’s leading and most-established vacation rental websites around the world, including HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com. With 425,000 global listings, the company connects homeowners and property managers with travelers who seek the space, value and amenities of vacation rental homes as an alternative to hotels. HomeAway is committed to providing the safest marketplace for vacation rentals offering the Carefree Rental Guarantee and Reviews, and has contributed significantly to the popularity of the vacation rental industry.
A personal note: I met the HomeAway crew last spring in Austin and they sponsored our Chicago stay this summer. But I’m a fan of their service, regardless, and I’ve just booked a weekend stay in Tucson using the HomeAway site. I think they’re great.
Named one of Travel+Leisure’s Top Travel Websites of 2009, Raveable.com is the fastest way to find the perfect hotel. Raveable.com is the first and only website that creates hotel review summaries based on the common rants and raves found in millions of online hotel reviews.
A personal note: Raveable has a program that’s supposed to help drive traffic to your blog and I participate in that program. The jury is out on the traffic results, but I’ve met one of the founders and he’s a great guy, I believe that he has tried to create a system that works well for bloggers and for his business. You can check out their program here. Also, they’re doing a nice job of sharing their participant’s posts on Twitter.
Travelfish.org produces original travel content for the independent traveller heading to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Recommended by Rough Guides, Footprint, Lonely Planet and others.
TravellersPoint is a vibrant travel community dedicated to seriously passionate travellers. Upload photos, create a blog or travel map, share travel tips in the forums, and contribute to the wiki travel guide.
UpTake is a travel search and discovery site – the first step for travelers to decide where to go, where to stay or what to do. We help users make informed decisions about what best fits their travel preferences. We scoured more than 5,000 sites to collect 775,000 places to go, things to do and places to stay in the U.S. Then we analyzed and organized over 20 million travelers’ opinions to enable search based on exact travel requirements and preferences. See about UpTake for more information about our company.
A personal note: I’m on the blogger advisory board for Uptake. I joke that this means that I tell them what I think and then, they ignore it. Both Elliott Ng (since decamped for new ventures) and Pat Jenkins would argue that I’m wrong. Uptake sees the financial potential in the work that travel bloggers are doing and have created the Uptake travelblog network to support that view. I really enjoy getting to hang out with Elliott and Pat whenever I get the chance. Business stuff aside, they’re swell humans and good company.
Thank goodness for those who do well and good at the same time. Thank you sponsors.
It is great you and all of your sponsors have done so well!!
thanks for the shoutout Pam. Yes I disagree about your claim that we ignore you. 🙂 But sometimes change takes time. Perhaps I should think of you as the blog psychotherapist…thanks for being such a blessing to the UpTake program!