Win a Free Trip
Just about every week in eFlyer, we run an item about a new contest for winning a free trip somewhere, and these are always among the most-clicked items. After all, who wouldn’t want a free vacation?
I think it’s the “vacation” part that’s motivating. Even people who travel a lot for business get turned on by the idea of a trip that has nothing to do with business, especially if they don’t have to go alone.
My own favorite “win” was courtesy of Virgin Atlantic. There was a large press lunch, held at–if I remember correctly, it was about 15 years ago–the Peninsula Hotel in New York. We all dropped business cards into a bowl as we entered. (I know that’s not an unusual thing in general, but I don’t recall it ever happening at a press lunch before or since. ) The announcement du jour–the reason for the press event–was that Richard Branson was opening his private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands to private rentals, I believe.
Anyway, after the lunch and the presentation, the PR chief (I’m pretty sure I remember her name but I’m not going to test my memory any more) said something to the effect of, You’re probably wondering why we were collecting all your business cards–we’re going to give you a chance to experience Virgin and Necker Island for yourself. They picked a card–and no, I don’t remember who won–and announced that the winner was going to Necker Island, with friends.
I wasn’t very disappointed; up til that point, the only thing I had ever won in a raffle was a nun doll in grammar school. But then they said, we have consolation prizes. They drew two more names, each of whom won a pair of Upper Class tickets between New York and London. One of those names was mine.
I remember clearly the woman in charge saying, “This is not a busman’s holiday. We want you to experience Virgin and London the way your readers do. Use these tickets at any time to take a vacation, and we don’t expect you to write about it.”
So, a few months later, I packed my bags and my then-husband and headed for England. I’d lived and worked in London, and taken him with me there before, so we rented a car at Gatwick and headed for Devon and Cornwall. I’d traveled extensively throughout most of England, Scotland, and lots of Wales, but I’d never been to those counties before. It was beautiful, and relaxing, and I think my husband enjoyed being on a level playing field. We stayed in St. Mawes in a hotel overlooking the English Channel, visiting a castle nearby where they demonstrated falconry, ate at pubs, moved to a bed-and-breakfast in the Devon hills and hiked through sheep-filled pastures, moved to St. Ives on the northwest coast and watched the fishing boats come and go in St. George’s Channel.
Anyway, I think that’s why business travelers like contests. Not so much that it’s free, but that it’s a vacation, and you don’t have to go alone.
–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer
