CLEARFIELD – What do London, Bora Bora, Bay of Fundy, Cheddar Gorge, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Stonehenge, Yellow Stone National Park, the Matterhorn and Bilger’s Rocks have in common? All are in the virtual battle to become the eighth wonder of the world on VirtualTourist.com.
Earlier this summer, Sue Swales Vitullo, travel development specialist for Visit Clearfield County, received an e-mail from VirtualTourist about its eighth wonder of the world contest. She reached out to the VCC hotel tax committee and ultimately they decided to nominate Bilger’s Rocks for its “geological formations that offer a breathtaking scenic wonder featuring caves, cliffs, passageways and climbing routes.” The rock park, which is located in Grampian, is estimated to be between 316 and 320 million years old.
The contest was free to enter and opened June 3. Since then the VCC has observed an increase in visitors at Bilger’s Rocks, according to Vitullo. “And, they’re not just coming from Pennsylvania; they’re coming from all around the world. It’s been really interesting to track the last couple of months,” she said, adding the contest runs through Sept. 30 and a widget linked to it can be found on the VCC homepage.
Bilger’s Rocks, according to her, is up against a lot of “big” destinations. However, she gets regular contest updates from VirtualTourist and Bilger’s Rocks sits in the Top 100 of the more than 300 nominated travel destinations worldwide. “It’s neat to know we’re in the Top 100,” she said. “Each destination gets featured on the VirtualTourist Facebook and Pinterest pages, and they tweet about it, so that’s helped a lot, too. We’re getting out there.”
Commissioner John A. Sobel said he’s visited the contest Web site and continues to vote. He said people can vote once each day through the close of the contest. “We’re already in the Top 100. If everyone in Clearfield County voted regularly from now through the end of the contest in September, we could have the rec and tourism Cinderella story. It would be the neatest thing in the world.”
The eighth wonder of the world contest winner gets a national television segment and a big “PR push” from VirtualTourist.com, said Vitullo.
VirtualTourist is a worldwide travel community with 1.3 million members. Real travelers and locals swap real travel advice and experiences. The Web site is one of the largest sources of user-generated travel content in the world and a premiere resource for travelers who are seeking an insider’s perspective. VirtualTourist boasts real travel tips, reviews and photographs from “real people who have been there and done that.”
Additionally, VirtualTourist has registered members from more than 220 countries and territories. Those travelers have provided 1.8 million travel tips for more than 72,977 destinations worldwide, as well as shared 3.7 million photographs. VirtualTourist gets 9 million unique users per month, and 90 percent of its travel forum questions get feedback for vacation specifics. Users are encouraged to reach out to others within the “close-knit” community of travelers who are willing to share with others around the world.
VirtualTourist.com was started in 1999 with a simple objective: “Bring people together to share their travel experiences, no matter where in the world they lived. And the Internet – still in its infancy back then – seemed like an ideal platform for people to share their experiences with anyone, at any time and about anywhere.”
In July of 2008, VirtualTourist became part of the TripAdvisor Media Group. Today, VirtualTourist is one of the largest, most popular travel research sites on the Web. New members join daily, while the vibrant community continues to share more and more useful travel tips, advice, photographs and experiences.