Media Release                                                                 

Scenic Names the Finalists In Great NZ Photo Competition
 
KiwiRail Scenic Journeys’ Great Scenic New Zealand Photo Competition has named its 12 talented finalists, who will be travelling this weekend on the Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific and TranzAlpine, to battle it out for the final prizes.
 
The Facebook-based photo competition, which ran from 28 March to 14 April, received a total of 745 entries depicting various parts of New Zealand’s scenery. Entries were judged on creativity, skill, and composition of the photo, as well as relevance to New Zealand scenery.
 
“This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the 12 front-runners will each board one of Scenic’s three long-distance trains – the Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific and TranzAlpine – in a bid to take the best photos across a variety of categories. They will then be required to submit a final portfolio consisting of photos for each of the five set categories, with final judging taking place mid-May.
 
“We have some of the world’s best scenery and the photo competition was a great way for us to engage with New Zealanders who want to showcase their country to the rest of the world. Our 12 finalists sent in some incredible entries and I can’t wait to see what they produce from their trips on our trains,” says KiwiRail’s General Manager, Passenger, Deborah Hume.
 
Kiwirail Scenic’s Facebook page was launched in December last year, with the aim of connecting with those who have travelled on Scenic trains (and those who may travel in the future), and sharing experiences and photos of the journey, and a love of the fantastic scenery that New Zealand has to offer.
 
“Reaching into social media was a way for us to really define our new brand, plant ourselves in the ‘tourism’ space, and create a community of train travel and New Zealand ‘fans’. Hosting a competition via Facebook was a great way to engage and interact with Facebook users, and the overall response we’ve had to the competition has been fantastic,” Ms Hume says.
 
To enter, contestants simply had to upload a scenic photo taken from anywhere in New Zealand to the Scenic Facebook application. Entries were then uploaded to the competition album, where Facebook users around the world could view, ‘like’ and comment on photos.
 
The final judging will be hosted at Tourism New Zealand office in Wellington on Wednesday 22 May, and judged by a panel of photography and tourism industry experts. The top portfolio from each train line will be decided and rewarded with $1,000 to spend with KiwiRail Scenic Journeys, and the best of these four will become the overall winner, receiving an additional $1,000 cash.
 
The finalists are:
 
Siva Prasad, Christchurch, Coastal Pacific

Gemma Coutts, Timaru, Coastal Pacific

Andrew (Andy) Lukey, Christchurch, Coastal Pacific

Sarah Lye, Ashburton, TranzAlpine

Melissa Jemnett, Kaipoi, TranzAlpine

Andrew Barr, Christchurch, TranzAlpine

Paul Mclaughlin, Wellington, Northern Explorer ex WGTN

Ronald Evangelista, Wellington, Northern Explorer ex WGTN

Daniel Van Kessel, Lower Hutt, Northern Explorer ex WGTN

Jack Lee, Auckland, Northern Explorer ex AKLD

Cally Whitham, Warkworth, Northern Explorer ex AKLD

John Benedict Catbagan, Auckland, , Northern Explorer ex AKLD
 
ENDS

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