The Best Holiday in the World!

Share Istria – apply and win a seven day tailor-made free holiday in Istria!

On Friday, 27 March, the Istria Tourist Board launches a large-scale promotion campaign titled ShareIstria. This targeted international invitation is open to all influencers, opinion leaders, bloggers, travel writers and social network authors with more than 5,000 fans or followers.

Those who apply are given an opportunity to win a seven-day free holiday and stay in Istria in the period from 16 May until 31 July 2015. Applications can be made from 27 March until 22 April. Winners – team leaders will be selected from all submitted applications. The selected team leaders can bring one more friend, also active on social networks. Each week Istria will be visited by three teams at the same time, each consisting of a team leader and his/her friend.

During their stay in Istria, the selected teams will write at least two daily posts on social networks or their blogs in connection with their daily experiences. They will stay on a unique island/the Porer Lighthouse in the Medulin Aquatorium as well as in a luxury Lone Hotel in Rovinj or a small family hotel Kaštel in Motovun. Their each day will be filled with various activities organized by the Istria Tourist Board.

Visits to best Istrian itineraries are planned: well-known wine cellars with wine tasting, best world olive oil producers, adventure parks and various attractions throughout Istria. Their days will be filled with organized diving and sailing courses, dancing workshops and the possibility to acquire basic sommelier knowledge by learning about Istrian wines, as well as tasting olive oils, truffle hunting or climbing down into the Istrian underground.

There is also a wide range of other events, from the Rovinj-based mega spectacle Red Bull Air Race, the ATP Tour in Umag to the Dance Festival in Svetvinčenat, Film Festival in Motovun or the re-enactment of the Jules Verne novel in Pazin as well as concerts in the famous Arena of Pula.

Each week will be filled with different activities providing "contestants" with the opportunity to experience the best Istria has to offer, from the sea and beaches, enogastronomy or culture to active tourism.

At the end of each week, the best team will be chosen and entered into the main prize draw of 10,000 euro. The best team will be selected by the criterion of the overall number of posts, their reach and the quality of published content.

All those interested in winning an interesting stay in Istria can apply on www.shareistria.com.

This project only partially resembles to the one launched by the Australian Tourism Board a few years ago under the title The Best Workplace in the World – the Coral Reef Lifeguard. The initiative of the Istria Tourist Board is different, very attractive and innovative. It will contribute to the promotion of Istria and Croatia, its beauties and the Peninsula-related experiences.

The Tourist Board of Istria has prepared an entire invitation campaign, promotional video clips and launched a dedicated web portal for publishing, following and evaluating contents related to this significant project. Following the release of invitation, the Share Istria project will be advertised on important worldwide portals, by press releases, PR agencies, the Croatian National Tourist Board branch offices abroad, newsletters and social networks - through its own profiles, as well as those of tourist boards and hotel companies in Istria.

This contest is an additional step forward in the promotion of Istria as an attractive all-year tourist destination with an excellent offer of both seaside and hinterland activities and products, by means of social networks and a wide media presence on major TV stations.

The project Share Istria also represents the continuation of the three-year intensive promotion during which Istria has invested considerable PR effort and energy. During this period, the Tourist Board of Istria has organized study strips for numerous foreign journalists specialized in various tourism segments – from culture, festivals, large events and enogastronomy to cyclotourism and trekking, representing target markets such as the German, Dutch, American, Italian, Austrian, Spanish, British and French. All this efforts resulted in numerous stories by respectable tourism journalists, published and broadcast in the world media as well as in becoming a part of esteemed world travel guides.

Istria has thus acquired unmeasurable reputation in terms of being chosen i.e. awarded prizes and recognitions by the most influential media worldwide. The media value of published articles exceeds 150 million kuna per year.

Istria has been ranked among top ten best world destinations by National Geographic Traveller, CNN, USA Today, Huffington Post, Fodor"s, Reader"s Digest, Wine Enthusiast and many others.