Travel Competition

The Amazing Race popularity with close to 10 million viewers each week, has spawned a cottage industry of team travel competition companies in addition to Competitours, vying to appeal to the ‘Amazing Race’ wannabee crowd.

The company that has spearheaded the industry is Global Scavenger Hunt, by offering an exhilerating 23 day trip, barnstorming across 4 continents with an exciting variety of challenges that reinforces their credo of ‘trusting strangers in strange lands’. Competitours principal Steve Belkin participated in a Global Scavenger Hunt trip in 2004 and was absolutely impressed with the management team and their trip execution. With top notch hotels and a free Global Scavenger Hunt as the grand prize thrown into the mix, this trip is an excellent value proposition for the price.

A relative newcomer is The Extreme Race which has a 14 day trip to Europe on offer, but no actual trip has yet been launched. This company seems to be focused on regional trips around the USA, a smart niche because it is an affordable, easily accessible option for time and budget-pressed folks. The Extreme Race has received favorable reviews and their regional trip options are a terrific gateway experience for those who are still contemplating a longer international trip.

For the one-day-and-out, instant gratification crowd, City Chase, Urban Dare and Great Urban Race offer 3-5 hour urban adventure competitions on a local market basis. They have attracted significant participation and media coverage for their efforts. These companies set up and execute scavenger hunt style competitions in different cities across the US, with the focus being on speed and resourcefulness to compete and win. Local winners are aggregated into a national championship run-off.