Press Trips

We have worked with the following companies and tourism boards…

Qantas Airlines – The Great Crusade Campaign:

In September 2011, Craig traveled around New Zealand for two weeks representing yTravel Blog as one of the official Qantas Airways blogging correspondents for their Great Crusade campaign, an Ultimate Supporters Tour of the Qantas Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup.

Craig highlighted New Zealand as a travel destination as well as the experience of following the Rugby World Cup .

To read all articles written about the Great Crusade campaign click here.

References from the Great Crusade campaign:

“During his 16 days in New Zealand on the Great Crusade, Craig worked with Caz to publish 14 blog posts, which attracted 333 comments from their readers. They also utilized their social networks by posting 192 tweets and 42 facebook status updates all relating to the campaign. This was by far the highest engagement generated by any of the 6 bloggers who came on tour.

Qantas and Ogilvy were very impressed and appreciative of the hard work, commitment and passion both Caz and Craig showed for The Great Crusade over the past six months, and would thoroughly recommend them as ambassadors for other events and campaigns in the future.”  

- Mitch Phillips, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence | Sydney 

“Early in 2011 Qantas identified and approached yTravel Blog (Caz and Craig) as a good fit to experience and promote “The Great Crusade”, a Qantas Wallabies leverage campaign leading up to the Rugby World Cup. During and after the pre-launch in April, Caz and Craig’s social media and blogging activity were fantastic. They understood both objectives that Qantas were trying to achieve, and we and Ogilvy (our digital and social advertising agency) were so impressed by their efforts that we invited Craig to join the Great Crusade for 16 days in New Zealand.

Overall we were impressed with the coverage, commitment, and passion for the Qantas brand that Craig and Caz showed. This was the first integrated campaign that Qantas had proactively engaged with bloggers. Craig and Caz were a fantastic example of how this strategy and approach can deliver impressive results for an iconic brand. They have been fantastic advocates of the Qantas brand and that is something we are extremely grateful to them for. We hope to continue a close relationship with them in the future”.

- Rachael Butler, Qantas Airways Digital and Social Marketing Manager

Tourism New Zealand:

In October 2011 we were invited as Guests of Tourism New Zealand to speak at the Australian Travel Writers Convention in Rotorua about blogging and social media. We also participated in a 5 day famil in Rotorua and Auckland.

Click Rotorua and Auckland to read posts from our time in New Zealand.

Queensland Tourism/Gold Coast Tourism – Aust Youth Exchange:

In December 2010, we spent three days on the Gold Coast in Queensland as part of the Australian Youth Exchange initiative highlighting it as a destination for the Youth Travel Market. We were hosted by Queensland Tourism and Gold Coast Tourism.

Click to read all articles written about our Gold Coast Experience

Gold Coast Tourism and Byron Bay Bluesfest:

We attended the Byron Bay Bluesfest in April 2011 for 5 days with exclusive media passes, and were again hosted by Gold Coast Tourism.

To read all articles highlighting the Byron Bay Bluesfest click here.

LPCP Surfest Pro: Merrwether Beach Newcastle:

We attended the LPCP Surfest at Merryweather Beach staying at Nelson’s Bay and hosted by the Legendary Pacific Coast, a subsidiary of NSW Tourism.

Click to read all posts written about the Pacifc Coast Drive

Malaysian Kitchen Blogging Ambassadors Programme:

We were asked to dine at four Malaysian restaurants in Sydney in order to highlight Malaysian cuisine as part of the Malaysian Kitchen initiative by the Malaysian government.

Click to read all posts written about the Malaysian Kitchen.

Reference from the campaign:

“Their enthusiastic and keen nature made working with them an absolute pleasure on this campaign. Always prompt with updates over the course of the two month program, Caz and Craig took this project on with a serious attitude toward delivering their best and always remained friendly and approachable. A perfect blogging duo – We look forward to collaborating with them again.”  

- Melanie Vaz, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence | Sydney 

Hot Air Ballooning with Cloud 9 flights over the Hunter Valley:

We were hosted by Cloud 9 to take a hot air balloon ride over the Hunter Valley in NSW. Click to read about our hot air balloon flight over the Hunter Valley

Taronga Zoo, Sydney:

We were hosted by Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Click to read about our day spent at the Taronga Zoo, Sydney

Speaking Engagements:

Travel Blogging: Making it Happen - Lady bloggers Online Social Conference, July 2011
Blogger and Brand/ PR Relationships - Digital Parents Unplugged, Sept 2011
Achieving Blog Success and Working with Brands - Darren Rowse’s Problogger.net Training Event, Oct 2011
Australian Travel Writers Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand – for Tourism New Zealand, Oct 2011

Books/Print:

Featured three times in the ebook 40 Smart Social Media Status Updates to make Fans Fall in Love with Your company with examples of how we engage our facebook community. Featured along with other massive companies like Google, Starbucks, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Smug Mug, Zappos, Target and more…

Featured as an interview in the women’s Guide book on Thailand

Interviews:

Audio interview- y Travel blog corporate sponsorship Case Study- Mothers Love Letters
The Role of a Traveler and Life out of the Box - Sharing Travel Experiences
Work and Travel TV Interview Work and Travel TV
Random Traveller - No Place to Be travel blog
Teaching in London, Dublin, Thailand, Australia, Raleigh and Beyond – Teaching Traveling
Case Study with Rolf Potts Vagablogging
Teaching in ThailandTravel Bug Juice
Living and Working Abroad y travel blog style Travel Post
Expat Inspiration with Caz Makepeace Orangesplaash
Interview with Lash World Tour
Lucky 13 questions Go See Write
The Traveling Family Travel Wires
Aussie Couple Inspiring Travel Pocket Cultures
Travel Interview with y Travel blog Positive World Travel
Location Idependent Interview Jet Set Citizen
Meet the Nomads Flip Nomad
Global goose Interview Global Goose
Blog of the week E junkie

Rankings:

Currently ranked #1 on Brendan’s Top 100 Independent travel blogs (June 30, 2011)
Currently ranked #14 in the Top 150 travel blogs for Students (Oct 2010)
Listed as one of the 25 most inspiring travel bloggers for 2010 (Oct 2010)
Listed as one of the 5 travel bloggers to follow in 2011 (Dec 2010)
6 Amazing Travel Bloggers Todds Wanderings
40 flightsters you Should know about Flighster
Listed “30 best blogs for College Backpackers”
Listed as Number 1 on the Top 10 Must Read Blogs - Aussie on the Road