After the success of their travel photography competition in 2009, Holiday Velvet (www.holiday-velvet.com), a UK-based apartment rental agency with over 2,000 properties in its cache, has launched a travel writing competition.

(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - 26th May 2010 - After the success of their travel photography competition in 2009, Holiday Velvet (www.holiday-velvet.com), a UK-based apartment rental agency with over 2,000 properties in its cache, has launched a travel writing competition.

Promoted through social media such as Twitter and Facebook as well as their own website, participants are asked to submit a 600 word essay on Holiday Velvet’s key locations: Rome, Paris, New York, London, Berlin, Venice, Florence, Brussels, Provence, Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Barcelona, Miami, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Phuket, Ko Samui, Prague and Cape Town.

The first prize in the Holiday Velvet Travel Writing Competition is a weekend’s accommodation for two in Barcelona, plus a dinner at one of the city’s top restaurants and a tour, both supplied by Holiday Velvet’s local affiliates. Interestingly enough, most of the entries so far have been on the Catalan capital.

The best entries are put on-line and alongside Holiday Velvet’s growing ‘travel guides’ section (see: www.holiday-velvet.com/guide) which gives customers information and inspiration on what to do in the holiday apartment’s immediate environs (a recent series on famous fresh produce markets has been particularly popular with clients with an interest in local cuisine, see: http://www.holiday-velvet.com/guide/tips/theme-culinary-holidays/).

These are written by Suzanne Wales, a widely published travel writer and newly appointed content editor for Holiday Velvet. “Getting published in traditional media these days is tough for new writers,” she says. “Blogs and other on-line publishing opportunities such as our competition are a great opportunity to gain exposure.”

Holiday Velvet’s Travel Writing Competition runs until September 9th.

###