FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

USA TODAY TRAVEL MEDIA GROUP ANNOUNCES
NEW ORLEANS SELECTED AS NOMINEE
FOR 10BEST READERS' CHOICE TRAVEL AWARD

McLean, Va. - New Orleans is represented in the latest nominations for a 2013 10Best Readers' Choice Travel Award, announces The USA TODAY Travel Media Group. 

New Orleans - Boiled Crawfish is one of 20 nominees in the Best Iconic American Foods category of 10Best.com's prestigious weekly contest, which runs throughout the year. 

Readers and users will have four weeks in which to vote for Best Iconic American Foods, and the winner will be revealed on 10Best.com and USA TODAY on Wednesday, July 24, 2013.

Rules allow the public the right to vote online for one nominee per category, per day. The 10Best Readers' Choice Travel Award contest launches one new category each week, revealing its 20 nominees. Beginning week five, new winners will also be revealed weekly, from an award category launched four weeks prior.

Nominees for all categories are chosen by a panel of relevant experts which include a combination of editors from USA TODAY; editors from 10Best.com; relevant expert contributors and sources for both these media and other Gannett properties. The nomination panel for each travel award category is displayed on its associated contest page.  All voting is digital and the 10Best Readers' Choice Travel Award contest is accessible on the 10Best.com website. 
           
            To see or share the 10Best Readers' Choice contest: 
                        http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/
            To see or share the New Orleans nomination: 
                        http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-iconic-american-foods/

            The full list of 20 nominations for the Best Iconic American Foods category are as follows:

                        New Orleans - Boiled Crawfish

                        Albuquerque - Green Chile Sauce

                        Atlanta - Southern Fried Chicken

                        Baltimore - Maryland Crabs

                        Charleston, SC - Shrimp and Grits

                        Chicago - Italian Beef Sandwiches

                        Cincinnati - Cincinnati Chili

                        Dallas - Steak

                        Honolulu - Poi  

                        Indianapolis - Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

                        Kansas City - BBQ

                        Kentucky - Burgoo

                        Key West - Key Lime Pie

                        Memphis - Pullled Pork

                        New York - Pastrami

                        Philadelphia - Philly Cheese Steak

                        Portland, OR - Wild Salmon

                        San Francisco - Cioppino

                        Seattle - Dungeness Crab

                        Wisconsin - Fried Cheese Curds

 While the 10Best Readers' Choice Travel Award contest lives on 10Best.com - a standalone travel media site - it will be promoted across USA TODAY Travel Media Group's existing and future digital, mobile and tablet products, as well as via social media.  Nominees and winners may also be promoted and/or announced across Gannett media outlets including the websites of its 81 local newspapers and 23 television stations.

"USA TODAY is thrilled to have this method of sharing what 10Best and USA TODAY readers and users love most," said John Peters, president of USA TODAY Travel Media Group. "Our readers are well-informed, well-travelled and opinionated.  At the end of the day, content on our platforms is a reflection of them.  A destination, organization or business which finds itself the recipient of a 10Best Readers' Choice Award has really accomplished something." 

10Best.com provides users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. The core of the site's uniqueness is its team of local travel experts: a well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields - and their cities - but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about so the content is constantly updated. In 2012, 10Best.com averaged more than 700,000 monthly unique visitors generating approximately 28 million page views.  It was acquired by USA TODAY in January of 2013. 

USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation.  Through its unique visual storytelling, USA TODAY delivers high-quality and engaging content across print, digital, social and video platforms.  An innovator of news and information, USA TODAY reflects the pulse of the nation and serves as the host of the American conversation - today, tomorrow and for decades to follow. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.6 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website launched in 1995, reach a combined 6.6 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than 16 million downloads on mobile devices. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

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