Wikitravel.org Wins 2007 Webby Award for Best Travel Website

LOS ANGELES (May 2007) — Wikitravel, the Internet’s most popular worldwide travel guide based entirely on the contributions of its community, has been named Best Travel Website of 2007 by The Webby Awards, a leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, the awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization that includes Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, and “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening. This year’s Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries.

“The Webby Awards honors the outstanding work that is setting the standards for the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “Wikitravel’s Winner selection is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”

“Wikitravel.org is a truly collaborative effort by travelers around the world,” said Evan Prodromou, one of the husband-and-wife team that founded Wikitravel in 2003. “This Webby recognizes the work of all of our contributors, whose dedication and cooperation is the lifeblood of the site and the reason for its incredible growth.”

Added co-founder Michele Ann Jenkins: “I’m very proud of the Wikitravel community, and am endlessly impressed by the collaborative effort that goes into creating so many fantastic open content travel articles on the site.”

Wikitravel was inspired by Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, and by the needs of travelers looking for timely, immediate information that isn’t available in traditional travel guides due to long book publishing cycles. Wikitravel recently launched a Hindi version, bringing the total number of language versions of the site to 16, and is developing plans to launch versions in Russian, Chinese, Greek, and Hebrew, among others. In April, the total number of articles on Wikitravel across all languages topped 30,000.

Wikitravel is owned by Los Angeles-based Internet Brands, Inc., a leading operator of media, community and e-commerce websites.

About Internet Brands

Los Angeles-based Internet Brands is a leading operator of media and e-commerce sites for large ticket consumer purchases, such as cars, real estate, mortgages and travel. The company empowers consumers to make better product choices and save money. Internet Brands' sites deliver superior content and consumer insight and have received dozens of "best-in-class" awards.

Internet Brands' automotive division includes CarsDirect.com, Autos.com, Wikicars.org, GreenHybrid.com and Autodata Solutions. The company's home division includes DoItYourself.com, LoanApp.com, Loan.com and RealEstateABC.com. Internet Brands' travel division includes VacationHomes.com, Vamoose.com, Wikitravel.org, World66.com, BBOnline.com, CruiseMates.com, CruiseReviews.com, and FlyerTalk.com.

Internet Brands was founded in 1998 as CarsDirect and added the new parent company name of Internet Brands in June 2005.