Best Western Taps Travel Expert Amy Graff
Former VIA Magazine Editor to Offer Personal Spin on Leisure Travel for World's Largest Hotel Ch
JUNE 5, 2008. Today Best Western International announced that it is partnering with veteran travel journalist Amy Graff to give vacationers a bird's-eye view into Gen-X travel, via a blog and regular columns hosted on bestwestern.com.
Amy, 34, will serve as the company's new leisure travel spokesperson and provide content for bestwestern.com's 'Trip Planner' section. She'll also write a regular blog titled 'On the Go with Amy,' where she'll share firsthand travel experiences and chronicle her trips. Her first excursion will be a business trip to New York City, with her husband and two kids in tow. Her subsequent adventure will be a great American family road trip, where she'll conquer Route 66 on a razor-thin budget of $250 a day.
With more than a dozen years as an editor and writer, Amy most recently served as a senior editor at VIA, the travel magazine of the California State Automobile Association that reaches 3 million readers. Prior, she was a contributor to regional lifestyle magazines including Diablo and San Francisco, as well as Sidewalk.com, an early predecessor to CitySearch.
'The moment we met Amy, we knew she perfectly represented Best Western's customer,' says Dorothy Dowling, Best Western's senior vice president of sales and marketing. 'Best Western is the absolute best choice for those with both leisure and business travel on the brain, particularly in an economy that rewards excellent service above marble bathrooms.'
In addition to serving as a contributing columnist and spokesperson for Best Western, Amy writes for Sunset Custom Publishing and serves as the Community Manager for The San Francisco Chronicle's new parenting site, 'Bay Area Moms,' for which she writes 'The Mommy Files' blog. Amy made her blogging debut with the launch of 'The SF K Files,' the story of her search for a kindergarten in San Francisco for her daughter. The SF K Files has received widespread regional and national media attention.
Graff says she has traveled the world and back and is now ready to put her experience and perspective to work for the World's Largest Hotel Chain: 'I caught the chicken pox in Rio de Janeiro, watched the wall tumble down in Berlin, and outran an angry prehistoric bird in Australia's jungles,' she said. 'Best Western has always been a part of my adventures, and I am excited to share my experiences.'
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