TravelShark(TM) Honors 30 Unique Travel Discoveries with New Breed of Travel Award

    SINGAPORE, April 10, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- TravelShark today unveiled the first 30 winners of the Sharky Awards, a hyper-local awards program designed to recognize the freshest, most inspiring travel experiences across the globe.

The first group of winners is divided into three categories: People, Places, and Things. TravelShark launched the Sharky Awards in late 2011 and named this class of honorees as its first quarterly collection of rare discoveries and unique finds that make memorable additions to people's travel itineraries.

TravelShark singled out the water slide at Golden Nugget Las Vegas for top honors as the sharkiest discovery for the first quarter of 2012. The enclosed slide at The Tank shoots guests through a 200,000-gallon saltwater aquarium filled with 300 kinds of fish, including sharks.

"We're thrilled to let the world know about this first especially sharky group of Sharky Award Winners," said Sue Heilbronner, CEO of TravelShark. "It's a mere coincidence that this quarter's top Sharky honoree actually features sharks; anything that creates surprise and delight in travelers - including hotel rooms in igloos, retinal scanners for security, and General Managers that exceed the wildest guest expectations - is a qualifying feature for a Sharky Award."

A few other examples of Sharky Award winners are:

The Imperial Boathouse in Koh Samui - a luxury hotel that features boat-shaped guest bungalows and an enormous boat-shaped pool.

Flamingo Air in Cincinnati, Ohio - a charter flight service that actually encourages, shall we say, "mile-high" activities.

Randy Rivera of The Andaman in Langkawi - a "Coral Curator" who spearheads the Andaman's coral conservation project and offers children the unique opportunity to learn about and nurture their own coral polyps.

Other winners include the Crowne Plaza Semarang, Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma, the Wanderlust in Singapore, Hotel Marlowe, Hotel Monaco, Hotel Tomo, Hyatt Regency Maui, Ace Hotel Seattle, and more.

This quarter's Sharky Award winners can be found in 14 different countries and comprise hotels, monuments, hotel employees, restaurants, and everything in between.

TravelShark announces a new Sharky Award winner each week, with a larger group of winners announced once every quarter. Sharky Award nominations are open to the public and members of the travel industry. Each Sharky Award winner is featured on TravelShark.com and receives extra prominence on location-based TravelShark sites in the form of an eye-catching badge.

To see all the winners or nominate your own Sharky Award candidate, visit http://www.travelshark.com/sharkyawards

About TravelShark | TravelShark is the world's largest online travel network, with thousands of location-based travel websites for destinations around the globe. TravelShark connects global travelers with hyper-local travel solutions and memorable trips. TravelShark recently launched the Sharky Awards, recognizing unique and unexpected "finds" in travel, and TravelSharkPix, which allows people to share their favorite trip photos with fellow travelers looking for inspiration for their next trip. The company's content-rich websites - including BostonHotels.com, SingaporeHotels.com, BeijingHotels.com and SeattleHotels.com- help hotels and resorts generate profitable revenue for travel companies by driving direct bookings through TravelShark's Featured Hotel Program. TravelShark is headquartered in Singapore, with a U.S. office in Boulder, Colorado. To learn more, visit www.travelshark.com or call +1-720-239-1280 or +65 6734 8515.

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