Tourister.ru gets best travel website award

Opera Software, Russian Tourism Industry Union and GEO magazine reveal the results of travel website contest in Russia

Opera Software, the Russian Tourism Industry Union and GEO magazine are pleased to announce the winner of their travel website contest, held in Russia from August 14 till September 30. Based on the jury voting results, the best Russian travel website award goes to Tourister.ru. The winning website will be included in the Opera browser's Discover feature, which will allow Opera browser users to become familiar with the website on a regular basis from their PCs or mobile phones, directly from the browser's home screen.

Tourister.ru is a travel website where users can find all the information they need for planning their next getaway, as well as sharing their travel stories and impressions with those who are just about to jet off. The website contains handy information on different countries and cities, along with an air ticket service (in association with AviaSales.ru) and hotel booking service (in association with Booking.com).

More than 30 Russian-language websites took part in the contest. The winner was selected by the jury, which reviewed all content appearing on the websites from August 31 to September 30, 2013, and evaluated them based on the following criteria:

Quality of the published content
Publication frequency
Visual design of materials
Design and functionality of the website
The jury included Vladimir Esipov, Editor-in-Chief of GEO magazine; Yulia Ishunina, Photo Editor of GEO magazine; Irina Turina, Press Secretary of the Russian Tourism Industry Union; and Alexandra Lartey, Marketing Director for CIS countries at Opera Software.

“We are happy in all respects to have won this competition, as the Opera web browser is one of the most popular browsers in Russia. We hope that Tourister.ru featuring in Discover will be very helpful for those users who are fond of traveling,” says Nikolay Lebedev, Editor-in-Chief of Tourister.ru.

“Congratulations to the Tourister.ru website team on this well-deserved win. I am sure that the high-quality original content and striking look of the website will make Tourister.ru really popular with the users of Opera browser's Discover feature,” says Lartey.

About the Russian Tourism Industry Union
The Russian Tourism Industry Union is the largest industry union, including tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, health resort institutions, transportation, insurance, consulting, IT companies, educational institutions, mass media, public and other tourism industry organizations.
Presently, taking into account the associated members and organizations included in associations and unions, as well as those united in travel agency networks, the Russian Tourism Industry Union represents the interests of more than 2500 travel industry companies from Russia, neighboring countries and beyond. The main goals of the Russian Tourism Industry Union are creating a civilized tourist market in the country and increasing competitiveness of the national travel services.

About GEO magazine
GEO is the leading European popular science magazine about the world around us. The magazine was founded in 1976 in Germany. Its main topics are dedicated to traveling, science, ecology and photography; its key genre is the journalistic story. GEO magazine has been issued in Russia under the slogan “The unexplored world: the Earth” since 1998 and holds the 4th place in the world in terms of its circulation after the GEO versions in Germany, France and Spain. GEO Russia belongs to the GEO International magazines series. The magazine is currently published in 20 countries throughout the world, under the license of the G+J Publishing House, located in Hamburg. GEO magazine received “Best travel magazine” award in 2008 and 2009, according to the results of the Travel.ru website reader’s poll.

About Opera Software ASA
Opera products enable more than 350 million internet consumers worldwide to discover and connect with the content and services that matter most to them, no matter what device, network or location. In turn, we help advertisers reach the audiences that build value for their businesses. Opera also delivers products and services to more than 120 mobile operators around the world, enabling them to provide a faster, more economical and better network experience to their subscribers.
From family photos and funny videos to business ideas that change the world economy, the internet has always been about discovery. Whether you are a consumer getting online for the first time, or a multinational corporation trying to reach the right audience, Opera can help you discover more online.
Opera Software ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. ‘Opera’, ‘Opera Software’, ‘Opera Mini’ and the ‘O’ logo are trademarks of Opera Software ASA. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.