IN THE MEDIA: Best Western Partners With Nickelodeon

Best Western has joined forces with Nickelodeon for a summer promotional campaign focusing on families with children. The hotel chain is pairing with the Nickelodeon show “The Fairly OddParents” to promote family travel through a multi-layered summer promotion that includes a summer sweepstakes with one grand prize winner receiving a family trip for four to Hollywood, Calif.

“Nickelodeon’s 'The Fairly OddParents' provides the perfect platform for communicating our commitment to the family vacation market,” said Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president of marketing for Best Western International.

Best Western will kick off the partnership by offering guests who stay a total of five nights at any Best Western hotel worldwide between June 6 and Sept. 5 a $50 collectible Travel Card featuring characters from the show. The card can be used to pay for accommodations and related incidentals, such as room service and phone charges at Best Western hotels. To be eligible, guests must be members of the hotel chain’s loyalty program, Gold Crown Club.

Nickelodeon, the number-one network for kids, will run 30-second commercial spots for the sweepstakes throughout the promotion, which runs from June 20 to July 4. .The grand prize includes airfare to Hollywood, accommodations at a Best Western Hotel and the opportunity to meet the creator of “The Fairly OddParents.” Five hundred second-place winners will receive the $50 limited edition “The Fairly OddParents” collectible Best Western Travel Card and a Nick Arcade Game Card valued at $14.95, which can be used to purchase downloadable games on the Nickelodeon Web site. Contestants can enter to win at www.nick.com.

“Vacations play an important role in kids’ lives and we’re thrilled that Best Western is adding value to that experience with a great promotion featuring one of Nickelodeon’s top shows,” said Pam Kaufman, executive vice president marketing, at Nickelodeon.

To sweeten the deal, Best Western is offering a special promotion for travel agents, which includes an Agent Sweepstakes that will enable agents who book rooms at Best Western hotels in the GDS and enter a special code in the SI field to enter a random drawing for a grand prize. One winner will receive a trip for a family of four to Los Angeles to visit Universal Studios and meet the creators of “The Fairly OddParents.” The trip includes airfare, accommodations, ground transportation and spending money.