6/22/13

The 6th Youth Trekkers Wanted Campaign


Sponsor: Youth Development Administration (YDA), Ministry of Education, Taiwan (ROC)
Introduction:
Taiwan’s popular Youth Trekkers Wanted Campaign is back again! We’re inviting all international youth backpackers to get creative and make Taiwan their own with a custom-made Taiwan trek. Let's be friends!
Dates:
Taiwan trek proposals will be accepted until 12 midnight (24:00) Taiwan time on July 14, 2013.
How to participate:
1.         Qualifications
The 6th Youth Trekkers Wanted Campaign is open to all international youth 18~30 years of age (in other words, we’ll accept submissions from applicants born on or after January 1st, 1983 and on or before December 31st, 1995)
2.         Registration
Go to the activity’s official webpage (http://youthtravel.tw/youthtrekker) to fill out the official application. Each entrant should submit with their application a uniquely themed, 10-day (or longer) Taiwan trek itinerary proposal that reflects the energy and spirit of youth backpacking.
3.         Each entrant proposal should include the following: (within 10 pages)
(1) Basic personal data (including a photograph);
(2) Itinerary proposals must be submitted in one of the following languages: Chinese, English, Japanese or Korean. The proposed Taiwan trek itinerary must be at least 10 consecutive days in length;
(3) Planning Document, please describe:
a.     motivation for participation, club activity and/or travel experiences, and the theme and unique character of your proposed Taiwan trek itinerary;
b.     How you plan to share your Taiwan travel experience and promote the Youth Trekkers Wanted Campaign.
c.      Other: Feel free to submit examples of prior personal travel materials and travelogues (e.g., videos, photos, blog posts, sketches / artwork). Please provide submissions in this category as online links for convenient selection committee reference.
4.         Selection process
The selection committee will select the 20 best Taiwan trek itinerary proposal entries. These winning entries will be eligible to receive sponsor-issued cash incentive awards. Winners must use their awards to make their Taiwan Trek dreams come true.
5.          Entry selection and evaluation
The selection committee appointed by the sponsor shall review all entries and award a score for each based on the following criteria: Creativity (35%); Application Completeness & Implement ability (35%); Impact & Promotion Potential (30%).
6.         Winning entry results:
Winning entries in the 6th Youth Trekkers Wanted Campaign will be posted before July 31st, 2013.
Implementation and reporting:
1.         Winners’ Taiwan Trek Itineraries shall be completed between the period of August 1st, 2013 and November 20th, 2013
2.         The 20 individuals who submitted the winning itineraries shall be designated honorary Taiwan Tourism Ambassadors and invited to come to Taiwan to “live the dream” and complete their trek itinerary.  Those unable to travel to Taiwan during the specified period shall forfeit her / his rights as a winner and shall not be otherwise compensated.
3.         Each winner must accomplish the following as part of completing her or his trek itinerary:
(1)  At least 10 text articles posted to the official activity website’s blog. Articles should share winners’ experiences, insights and thoughts during their Taiwan trek. Each post should include video, photographs and/or illustrations.
(2)  Regularly update / post / check-in on social media platforms such as Youtube, personal blogs, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter to share itinerary experiences in “real time”.
(3)  All daily Taiwan Trek diary updates and shared information must be accompanied by the official Youth Development Administration (YDA) logo, Youth Travel in Taiwan logo or the keywords “Taiwan Youth Travel” and include hyperlinks to relevant YDA websites.
Award:
The 20 winners will earn cash incentive awards of either US$2,000 or US$3,000. Award amount category eligibility will be determined by each winner’s nationality as follows:
1.         Winners from Northeast and Southeast Asia shall receive a Taiwan Trek award of US$2,000. These countries / territories include Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Timor-Leste.
2.         Winners from other areas, including Europe, the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and other parts of Asia shall receive a Taiwan Trek award of US$3,000.
3.         This award may be used to cover roundtrip airfare to Taiwan, domestic ground transportation in Taiwan, room & board, and appropriate travel insurance.
4.         Taiwan tax laws require that non-citizens pay 20% on income earned in Taiwan. Therefore, the actual received value of the award for winners will be either US$1,600 or US$2,400 (based on award category). The winners will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education’s Youth Development Administration prior to arriving in Taiwan. The winner may collect 70% of the value of her or his cash incentive award after arriving in Taiwan during the 08/01/2013 – 11/20/2013 implementation period. The award should be used to complete the (minimum) 10-day itinerary schedule. The remaining 30% of the cash incentive award value shall be disbursed in Taiwan to the winner after she / he posts required submissions to the official activity website’s blog and completes all other required responsibilities.
5.         The full value of the cash incentive award that is due to winners and disbursed after arrival in and prior to departure from Taiwan shall be denominated in local currency (New Taiwan dollars [NT$]), with the US$:NT$ conversion calculated using the US$ selling rate posted by the Bank of Taiwan on the day prior to the winner’s arrival in Taiwan.
6.         Others
(1) International youth currently resident, working or studying in Taiwan are ineligible to participate.
(2) In the interest of fairness to all applicants, prior award winners in the Youth Development Administration’s Youth Trekkers Wanted and Korean Youth Trekkers Wanted campaigns are ineligible for further campaign award consideration.
(3) Youth travelers to Taiwan from Mainland China must meet regulations outlined in the document FIT Travel to Taiwan by Citizens of Mainland China and make all arrangements for relevant documents and approvals in order to participate in the Youth Trekkers Wanted Campaign. Please follow the weblinks below for further details:
u  Tourism Bureau, MOTC:
u  National Immigration Agency, MOI:
 Addenda:
1.         Entrants guarantee that all data and information submitted are accurate and do not infringe on the rights of others. All submissions must be original works of the submitting author. Falsities or accusations of falsities may result in cancellation of eligibility and/or right to be considered for an award.  The sponsor may seek return of the full value of award disbursements, with no compensation provided. Participants shall bear full legal liability for any harm they may cause to either the sponsor or any third party.
2.         Participants shall take full personal responsibility for all content they post to or distribute through the activity website and agree to abide by all relevant ROC (Taiwan) laws and international Internet-related rules and conventions. Participants further promise not to endeavor to damage or disrupt activity website information or functions or to hack into or otherwise damage any Internet system.
3.         Participants are prohibited from uploading and/or distributing content such as video, text and images that contravenes good morals or is otherwise illegal. Offenders shall be disqualified from campaign consideration and take full personal legal responsibility for their actions.
4.         Award winners shall be responsible to apply for an appropriate Taiwan tourist visa.
5.         Each award winner agrees to implement and complete her / his trek in accordance with the itinerary proposal submitted. In the absence of extraordinary circumstances, both theme and content cannot be changed. To request approval for itinerary changes, the award winner must notify the Youth Development Administration (YDA) by e-mail within 15 days of departing for Taiwan. All change requests must be formally approved by the YDA. The YDA reserves the right to seek reimbursement of the full award amount from award winners who change their itinerary without prior YDA approval.
6.         Official information related to activity awards shall be posted to this (the activity) website. Awards are invalid for exchange and non-transferrable. YDA reserves the right to change award privileges without prior notice in the event of force majeure.
7.         Should an award winner not uphold relevant rules and responsibilities, YDA shall assess the severity of such and may seek reimbursement of an appropriate percentage of the total award amount.
8.         In the event that unavoidable circumstances cause the sponsor to be unable to hold this activity as planned, the sponsor reserves the rights to cancel, end, revise or suspend its execution. Winners who have already collected their cash incentive award shall be asked to return their award minus fair expenses already paid.
9.         Personal information and data on participants held by the sponsor shall not be made released to third parties without the expressed permission of participants. Such information / data shall also receive protection under all relevant laws.
10.    The sponsor has the rights to provide to the media video, photography, images and text provided by participants while in Taiwan as well as to use excerpts and copies and to incorporate such into printed material without additional compensation or reward. The sponsor has the right to interview winners and to arrange interviews, promotion events, and media coverage of winners with regard to their individual experiences in and impressions of Taiwan. Winners agree to participate in all sponsor-organized Promotional activities without further compensation.
11.    Itinerary proposals should take all safety precautions into consideration. Award winners shall be responsible to arrange appropriate travel / other insurance.
12.    The sponsor reserves the right to alter at its discretion activity contents and award items.

Activity Organizer: Trust International Integrated Marketing, Co.
Contact: Bella Yen/ Christine Chen/ Joanne Yao

Tel: +886-2-2735-8778 ext13, 26, 11