Best Travel Websites Trends Detailed in New Report from the Web Marketing Association

West Simsbury, CT (PRWeb) March 20, 2007 -- www.07webaward.org- The Web Marketing Association, host of leading website awards competition WebAwards, released the Internet Standards Assessment Report (ISAR) to help the travel industry create more effective and engaging websites.

"As the standard of excellence for websites continues to increase, consumers (and WebAward judges) are increasingly picky about what they consider to be an effective website," said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association, Inc. "The Travel industry is creating effective websites for users by offering additional information about destinations, hotels, car rentals and places to visit, offering the user all the information they need in one place."

The WebAwards competition judges travel websites on seven criteria that combined create award-winning websites:
•    Design
•    Innovation
•    Content
•    Technology
•    Interactivity
•    Copywriting
•    Ease of use

The travel industry is generally in line with the ISAR Index with periods of both over and under performance. Travel websites have outperformed the index for the past two years.

According to the ISAR Study, the travel websites are typically strong in design, copywriting and interactivity and are above average compared to the 3-year criteria average in each of these criteria.

The 2006 WebAward for Best Travel Website went to Hospitality eBusiness for RIU Cancun Portal.

Other past winners include:
- 2005 Yellowstone Journal Corp for YellowstonePark.com
- 2004 Quicksilver Associates for Seabourn Cruise Line
- 2003 Apollo Interactive for Excalibur Las Vegas Resort Hotel and Casino
- 2002 Arnold Worldwide for Alaska

A complete list of past winners can be found at travel.webaward.org

Companies and organizations wishing to have their travel Web site evaluated against the ISAR Index and be considered for a WebAward, which can help boost a Website's credibility and marketing efforts, can learn more at www.07webaward.org.

To request your copy of the 2007 WebAward ISAR report, please visit: http://www.webaward.org/isar_report.asp

The Internet Standards Assessment report and the 2007 WebAwards are sponsored by the following leading organizations: Burst Media, PRWeb, Misukanis & Odden, Small Army, SimpleFeed, ExactTarget, ad:tech conferences, NewsUSA, eComXpo, MediaPost's OMMA conference, TopRank Online Marketing, Creative Chocolate Printing Company, OTOlabs, Internet World UK, Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster Radio, Rovion's InPerson and eMarketer.

2007 WebAward Call for Entries
The Web Marketing Association is now accepting entries into its 11th annual international WebAward Competition. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks that the Internet Standards Assessment report is based upon. The travel industry represents an important category in the WebAward competition, and the Web Marketing Association will again be honoring the Best Travel Web site of 2007. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2007 and the WebAward Web site is located at www.07webaward.org.

About the WebAwards
Now in its 11th year, the annual international WebAwards competition sets the standard of excellence in 96 industry categories by evaluating Web sites and defining benchmarks based on the seven essential criteria of successful Web site development. The goal of the Web Marketing Association, sponsor of the WebAwards, is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective Web sites on the Internet today. Entrants benefit from a Web site assessment by a professional judging panel and the marketing opportunities presented to an award-winning Web site. For more information, visit www.07webaward.org.

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