CHICAGO, April 10, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Travelzoo (Nasdaq:TZOO), a global Internet media company, last night revealed the 2008 Travelzoo Award winners at a gala award ceremony in Chicago. The Travelzoo Awards, also known as 'The Tzoos', celebrate the companies behind the best deals in 20 categories, including airlines, hotels, vacation companies, cruise agencies, cruise lines, shows & events, car rentals and destinations.
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"Every day the travel industry inspires millions of people to escape their daily lives and explore new places," said C.J. Kettler, president North America, Travelzoo. "It is such an honor for us to recognize the companies that are the best at not only inspiring travelers, but creating deals that make travel accessible, affordable and easy to book. All 20 of our winners honored tonight are leaders in this industry."
Travelzoo's deal experts evaluated more than 67,000 deals to determine the companies behind the best deals in each of the 20 categories. Seventy-three companies were honored at the Tzoo Awards, with the premier award of the night, the Best Overall Provider of Outstanding Travel Deals awarded to MGM Mirage, Las Vegas.
More than 170 travel industry executives from 110 companies attended the Travelzoo Awards gala ceremony held last night at the Fairmont Chicago. The event took place during the TravelCom conference, which attracts more than 1,000 travel industry professionals and media.
For more information visit http://www.travelzoo.com/tzoos.
The 2008 Travelzoo Award Winners are:
Leading Provider of Domestic Airfare Deals
* Frontier Airlines
Leading provider of international airfare deals
* British Airways
Best overall provider of airfare deals
* American Airlines
Leading provider of lodging deals by an upscale or boutique property
* The James Chicago
Outstanding deals by an individual hotel
* Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn
Outstanding deals by a hotel chain or brand
* Omni Hotels
Provider of outstanding domestic vacation package deals
* Expedia.com
Provider of outstanding international vacation package deals
* Gate 1 Travel
Best overall provider of vacation package deals
* CheapCaribbean.com
Most outstanding provider of cruise deals by an agency
* CruCon Cruise Outlet
Most outstanding provider of deals by a cruise line
* Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Leading provider of outstanding car rental and bus deals
* Advantage Rent-A-Car
Most outstanding achievement in marketing of travel deals for a
destination
* Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau
Outstanding deals by an online travel agency
* BookIt.com
Best overall provider of show & event deals
* Situation Marketing
Leading provider of travel deals, Canada
* TargetVacations.ca
Leading provider of travel deals, Europe
* Corinthia Hotels International (Europe)
Leading provider of travel deals, Asia-Pacific
* Hankyu Express International Co., Ltd (Japan)
Outstanding innovation in creating WOW! travel deals
* Virgin America
Best overall provider of outstanding travel deals
* MGM Mirage
In order to determine the 2008 Travelzoo Award Finalists, Travelzoo's deal experts evaluated over 67,000 deals researched in 2007 on the following 5-point system:
1. Reliability: The Test Booking Center(tm) performed over 100,000 verifications on deals published by Travelzoo in 2007. The Test Booking Center validates both online and offline qualifications including availability, accuracy of information published and ease of booking. When tested for this level of reliability, the deals provided by Finalist companies met all the requirements of the testing process and scored in the 90th percentile or higher.
2. Appeal: Of the 244,500 user ratings collected by Travelzoo in 2007, Finalist companies consistently achieved user rating scores of between 4.5 and the highest score of 6.
3. Competitiveness: Travelzoo Award Finalists offered competitive travel deals that were considered outstanding compared to similar offerings in the marketplace. Qualitative user feedback indicated Finalist companies regularly developed deals that inspired Travelzoo users to book trips they did not otherwise plan on taking. Additionally, proprietary campaign performance data sourced directly from Travelzoo advertising partners was evaluated to determine the level of consumer appeal.
4. Consistency: All companies consistently provided Travelzoo users with exceptional offers throughout the past year that inspired incremental travel, based on both qualitative and quantitative user feedback.
5. Quality: Travelzoo's 40 deal experts regularly consult with more than 900 travel companies around the world to uncover the best deals. All deal experts were surveyed for their nominations in 20 categories to arrive at preliminary nominations. The Travelzoo Awards Committee, comprised of 10 senior deal experts, studied Finalist companies determined by this survey, and with the data points listed above, determined the winners in 20 categories.
About Travelzoo
Travelzoo is a global Internet media company. Travelzoo's media properties, which reach more than 12 million travel enthusiasts in the U.S., Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and the U.K., include the Travelzoo(r) Web site (www.travelzoo.com), the Top 20(r) e-mail newsletter, the Newsflash(tm) e-mail alert service and SuperSearch(tm), a travel search engine. Travelzoo publishes offers from more than 900 advertisers. Travelzoo's deal experts review each offer to find the best travel deals and confirm their true value. Travelzoo is headquartered in New York City.
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Certain statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, expectations, prospects and intentions, markets in which we participate and other statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts. When used in this press release, the words "expect", "predict", "project", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "seek" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including changes in our plans, objectives, expectations, prospects and intentions and other factors discussed in our filings with the SEC. We cannot guarantee any future levels of activity, performance or achievements. Travelzoo undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release. Travelzoo and Top 20 are registered trademarks of Travelzoo. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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