Las Vegas  — Four international travel journalists recently captured top honors in the 2013 IPW Travel Writing Awards competition. The winners were announced on June 10 during a media reception at the IPW convention in Las Vegas. The U.S. Travel Association, which coordinates the awards, received more than 200 contest entries from journalists representing nearly 60 countries. The honors were awarded as follows:

Best IPW Host City (Los Angeles) Article — Elzbieta Pawelek of VIVA! Magazine, a national bi-weekly consumer magazine in Poland, took top honors in this category. Her story, Jak zdobyć Hollywood? (“How to get Hollywood”), takes readers on a past and present tour of the most famous place under the sun: Hollywood.

Best U.S. Travel Destination Article — Due to the high number of excellent entries received this year, the judges selected two winners in this category. Freelance journalist and travel photographer Chris Coplans won for his story A century of great railway romance, which was published in The Independent, a daily newspaper based in London, United Kingdom. Coplans’ article chronicles and celebrates 100 years of history at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, giving an appreciative nod to the meticulous restoration of the elegant 1913 Beaux Arts building.

Also winning in this category is Lieven Mathys, chief editor for Roularta Media Group in Belgium. His article, Everybody loves Johnny, highlights Nashville and appeared in De Zondag, one of the largest circulation Dutch-language newspapers in Belgium.

Best Trade Publication Article — Janice Strong, editor of Canadian Traveller magazine, was recognized in this category for her article The Real Hawaii. The story offers readers terrific tips on broadening their Hawaii experience beyond simply sunbathing and surfing. Highlighting several of Maui’s resorts, Strong focuses on activities that would immerse curious travelers in Hawaiian culture, traditions, music, food and customs.

During their evaluation of the entries, the judges looked for articles that featured original ideas and exceptional storytelling skills, as well as prose that would inspire readers to travel to the United States.

The IPW Travel Writing Awards competition is held annually. Each of the winning writers receives $1,000 and an award certificate. This year’s competition was sponsored by CityPASS, the company that offers discounted admission booklets for the top attractions in 11 North American destinations. ###

The U.S. Travel Association is a national, nonprofit organization representing all components of the travel industry, which generates $2 trillion in economic output and supports 14.6 million jobs. U.S. Travel’s mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States. For more information, visit www.ustravel.org.

For more than 15 years, CityPASS ticket booklets have been the premier product for travelers who want to visit a destination’s top attractions while enjoying significant savings of up to 49 percent. CityPASS ticket booklets, which have a 95 percent customer recommendation rating, contain prepaid admission to the most popular attractions in 11 North American destinations: New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Southern California and Toronto. For more information on the CityPASS program, visit CityPASS.com.

CityPASS® is a registered trademark of City Pass, Inc., and the exclusive property of City Pass, Inc.