Contact: John Manton, Publisher FTF Inc.
ftf@familytravelforum.com
212/665-6124                                    

Family Travel Forum, the award-winning resource for family travel information on the web, is launching a scholarship contest to encourage teens to write about their travel experiences.  Cash awards will be given to the top three essays, and 25 additional students will receive honorable mention awards. All winners will have their essays published on the company’s for-kids-only www.KidTravels.com website.

“Family Travel Forum is proud to acknowledge the next generation of great travel writers by offering them scholarships and their own forum to communicate with peers,” says publisher John Manton. “Because we will be posting the top essays on KidTravels.com, we expect that both teens and parents will be able to find useful information to encourage new dialogs and inspire a broader range of possibilities for family getaways.”

The scholarship contest is open to all teenagers ages 13 to 18 who are enrolled in a junior high or high school in the United States or Canada.  Students are asked to write a maximum 750-word essay on any type of trip and any aspect of a trip they have taken in the last two years.  An application form, rules and FAQs can be found on the company’s sites:  kidtravels.com, familytravelforum.com, familytravelboards.com, and tinytravelers.net.

Three cash prizes (1st place: $500; 2nd place: 250; 3rd place: $100) and 25 honorable mentions will be awarded.  Judges include professional travel writers and a panel of well-traveled teens.  Essays will be judged on originality and quality of expression. 

Submissions to the scholarship contest must be received by October 1, 2007.  The winning essays will be published on kidtravels.com starting November 16, 2007.
  

About FTF
Family Travel Forum (FTF), whose motto is "Have Kids, Still Travel!", is dedicated to the ideals, promotion and support of travel with children.  The company’s family of websites – kidtravels.com, familytravelforum.com, familytravelboards.com, and tinytravelers.net -- contain vast libraries of destination research, including first-hand reviews of tropical and ski resorts, reunion destinations, attractions, holiday weekends, family festivals, cruises, and all kinds of vacation ideas.  Family Travel Forum also offers trip-planning consultation and discounts from preferred vendors for individual families, and family travel consulting services to the travel industry.