FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PORTLAND, ORE. (Feb. 3, 2009) – Contest Seeks Budding Cinematographers to be International Air Service Caped Crusaders

Do you have an interest in overseas travel and a knack for creating video, animation or stop action visual productions?  Then a new Port of Portland contest is for you. 

Budding cinematographers and directors have until midnight on March 20 to submit a 60-second video that tells viewers why they want to be a “local super hero” and fly nonstop from PDX to Frankfurt, Amsterdam or Tokyo.  The grand prize winner will receive four coach tickets to fly to the winner’s choice of any of these three cities on Lufthansa or Northwest (a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines) plus a pre-loaded credit or debit card with a cash value of $2,000 to cover other travel costs.

Second and third prize winners will each receive two coach tickets to fly to the winner’s choice of the same destinations offered to the grand prize winner. 

Travel associated with the grand prize must occur between May 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010.  Contestants who are less than 18 years old at the time of entry must have the consent of a legal guardian to enter and must not be under the age of 13.

Judges will select the top three videos submitted and those videos will be posted on www.kgw.com.  The site will call for a public electronic vote for the video which provides the best motivation for “flying overseas from PDX in a single bound.” Voting will take place between March 30 and April 3, 2009 and prize winners will be announced April 6. The video receiving the most public votes will be the grand prize winner. The videos receiving the second and third-most public votes will be the second and third prize winners. 

Full details and official rules of contest can be found at www.flypdx.com or by sending a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope to:  Be a Local Super Hero, KGW TV8; 1501 SW Jefferson Street, Portland, OR 97201.  Indicate “Be a Local Super Hero Rules” on the outside of the envelope.

So why is this a contest for super heroes? 

Travelers who chose to fly on one of PDX’s great nonstop flights to or from Europe or Asia are real community super heroes.  Portland is fortunate to have one of the best airports in the country and even more fortunate to have three non-stop international flights via Northwest and Lufthansa.  In fact, Portland is one of only 12 metro areas in the country with both daily transatlantic and transpacific nonstop service and it is the smallest of the 12.

Those same international air services generate a total airport and visitor direct business revenue of $241.5 million for the region—an important consideration as businesses large and small grapple with the economic downturn.  Not only do the flights save valuable travelling time, they are also the source of the growth in international travelers to our region which benefits hotels, restaurants and other tourist destinations.  The number of travelers between Europe and our region has nearly doubled since the new services began.