• by Karl Greenberg , April 24, 2007

Hyatt Resorts is launching a promotional campaign that takes reality-TV online by putting a handful of lucky families in three Hyatt Resorts and letting Web site visitors vote on which family should win a grand prize: 50 days free at a Hyatt Resort.

The campaign, "The Ultimate Adventure Challenge," gives five families chosen from an online sweepstakes a chance to compete against each other at three Hyatt resort properties, with their experiences to be posted at HyattAdventureChallenge.com as Webisodes.

To compete, entrant families - who have at least one child who is 9 to 12 years old - must upload 90-second videos of the kids and themselves. The videos must "convey their passion for adventure and exploration while noting why their family should be selected for the competition," per the company.

The first 1,000 entrants by May 30 will be eligible to compete. The company will promote the effort via an online ad campaign, with banner ads on a wide array of sites.

Scott Seed, director of resort marketing, Hyatt Hotels Corp., says the effort is focused on boosting summer vacation business for the 18-resort portfolio. "The idea came about because we know a lot of travelers are online researching, and our research indicated they wanted even more content online that's both entertaining and also informative; this also lets us go beyond traditional media."

Site visitors who view the submission videos and vote for the winning family can also enter the sweepstakes to win 50 free nights at any Hyatt property worldwide, as well.

Hyatt will choose 20 families out of the initial 1,000, fly them in June to a casting call in Chicago, where they will go before a panel of judges to try to convince them why their family deserves to be one of the five finalist families.

The five selected finalists will then go on a two-week, all-expenses-paid summer trip to Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa, and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino. At each resort, the families will participate in individual and group activities that could range from hula dancing in Kauai to hot-air ballooning in New Mexico.

In early July, per Hyatt's Seed, the company will film the families' resort activities: hot air ballooning, horseback riding and kayaking on Lake Tahoe, for instance.

He said online ads for the program will run on family web sites like Clubmom.com, and Caboose.com, to reach mothers. There will also be a direct-marketing effort t members of Hyatt's Passport program.

"Our resorts get a lot of business from families in summertime," says Seed, "If someone's going on vacation, we want to them to think of Hyatt Resort, first, and then the destination."

On Aug. 15, the webisodes chronicling the adventures of the five finalist families will be posted to HyattAdventureChallenge.com along with behind-the-scenes footage and other content. Viewers who opt in get to see the content while Hyatt gets to tout its range of activities at its various resorts.