1. The Readers’ Travel Tips competition (the “Competition”) is open to residents of the UK aged 18 and over.
2. The Competition is not open to:
a. employees or agencies of Guardian News & Media Limited (“GNM”, the “Promoter” or “us”) or its group companies;
b. employees or agencies of Big Blue Sea Ltd, which trades as Coolstays (“Coolstays”) or its group companies;
c. freelance contributors to GNM; or
d. anyone else connected with the Competition including family members of any of the persons referred to in paragraphs a. – c., above.
3. Entrants into the Competition shall be deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions.
4. To enter the Competition you must send us your tips via the weekly Readers’ travel tips entry page, and include your full name and email address. No purchase necessary.
5. Only one entry per person. Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed. You are responsible for the cost (if any) of sending your Competition entry to us.
6. GNM accepts no responsibility for entries which are lost, delayed, misdirected or incomplete or cannot be delivered or entered for any technical or other reason. Proof of delivery of the entry is not proof of receipt by GNM.
7. The Competition will open at the time of launch of the Competition on the Readers Tips page of GNM’s website and will close at 9am on the end date specified on that page. Entries received outside this time period will not be considered. GNM reserves the right in its absolute discretion to extend the closing date where the entries received are of insufficient quality.
8. You own the copyright to your Competition entry as its author.
9. By submitting an entry to the Competition, you give GNM:
a. Permission for your Competition entry to be published on GNM websites including but not limited to theguardian.com (“GNM Websites”) and on any social media account controlled by GNM, including but not limited to Facebook and Twitter accounts (“GNM Social Media Accounts”), and you grant GNM a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use and publish your Competition entry in electronic format (including on GNM Websites and GNM Social Media Accounts) and hard copy (including in GNM publications) for purposes connected with the Competition, and to adapt the entry to enable such publication (including to crop or otherwise edit it for such purposes), and you hereby irrevocably waive, for the benefit of GNM, all moral rights in the entry to which you are entitled; and
b. The right to use your surname and county of residence for the purpose of identifying you as the author of your entry and/or as a winner of the Competition at any time, subject to clause 21.
10. Your Competition entry must be your own work, must not be copied, must not contain any third-party materials and/or content that you do not have permission to use, and must not be obscene, defamatory, distasteful, offensive, or in breach of any applicable law or regulation, or in breach of any confidentiality obligations owed by you to third parties. If we have reason to believe your Competition entry is in breach of this paragraph 10 then we may not consider it and may disqualify it.
11. We may disqualify your Competition entry for the following reasons: your entry does not comply with these Terms and Conditions; you are not eligible to enter the Competition; or you cannot be contacted or do not respond within the timeframe set out in clause 16 below.
Picking the winner
12. A judge who is independent of GNM will select one (1) winning entry from all valid entries received in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. Full details of the judging process and the name of the judge are available on request to travel@theguardian.com.
13. When choosing the winner, the judges will consider the most original and creative entries.
14. The judge will select the winning entry within four (4) days of the closing date. The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Prize
15. The winner will receive a £200 Coolstays voucher (the “Prize”). The Prize is subject to the Coolstays Voucher Terms and Conditions that are applicable on the date that the Prize is delivered. A copy of the Terms and Conditions can be accessed at https://www.coolstays.com/voucher-terms.
16. The winner will be notified by e-mail within fourteen (14) days of the closing date and be given details of how to claim the Prize. The winner will receive the Prize within thirty (30) days of claiming the Prize. If a winner does not respond to GNM to claim their Prize within fourteen (14) days of being notified of their win, the winner’s Prize will be forfeited. If a winner rejects their Prize or the entry is invalid or in breach of these terms, the winner’s Prize will be forfeited.
17. The Prize is non-exchangeable, non-transferable, and is not redeemable for cash or other prize.
18. Coolstays is responsible for supplying the Prize. GNM reserves the right to substitute the Prize with another prize of similar value in the event the original prize offered is not available.
Some other rules
19. The surname and county of the winner and details of their winning entry can be obtained fourteen (14) days after the closing date by sending a stamped address envelope to the following address: The Guardian Marketing Department, King’s Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU.
20. The winner may be required to take part in promotional activity related to the Competition and the winner shall participate in such activity on the Promoter’s reasonable request. The winner consents to the use by the Promoter and its related companies, both before and after the closing date of the Competition for an unlimited time, of the winner’s surname and county of residence for publicity purposes (in any medium) and in advertising, marketing or promotional material, subject to clause 21.
21. The Promoter shall use and take care of any personal information you supply to it as described in its privacy policy, a copy of which can be seen at http://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy, and in accordance with data protection legislation. By entering the Competition, you agree to the collection, retention, usage and distribution of your personal information in order to process and contact you about your Competition entry, and for the purpose outlined in paragraphs 9 and 20 above. The promoter intends to make available the surname and county of residence of the winner as outlined in paragraphs 9 and 20 above. If you do not wish your surname and/or county of residence to be made available for this purpose then please notify us by sending an email to travel@theguardian.com with “Readers’ Travel Tips competition” in the subject line.
22. GNM and Coolstays accept no responsibility for any damage, loss, liabilities, injury or disappointment incurred or suffered by you as a result of entering the Competition or accepting the prize. GNM further disclaims liability for any injury or damage to your or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participation in or downloading any materials in connection with the Competition. Nothing in these terms and conditions shall exclude the liability of GNM under law fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence.
23. GNM reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, this Competition with or without prior notice due to reasons outside its reasonable control (including, without limitation, in the case of anticipated, suspected or actual fraud). The decision of GNM in all matters relating to the Competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
24. GNM shall not be liable for any failure to comply with its obligations relating to this Competition where the failure is caused by something outside its reasonable control. Such circumstances shall include, but not be limited to, weather conditions, fire, flood, hurricane, strike, industrial dispute, war, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, inevitable accidents, supervening legislation or any other circumstances amounting to force majeure.
25. The Competition and these Terms and Conditions will be governed by English law and entrants to the Competition submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
26. Promoter: Guardian News & Media Limited, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU.
These terms and conditions were amended on 3 July 2018. Images for the competition can no longer be uploaded on GuardianWitness; they must now be uploaded on the weekly Readers’ travel tips call out webpage.
Rule 7 of these terms and conditions, regarding the launch closing times of the competition, was amended on 5 December 2019.
The competition prize changed in January 2020 and the terms and conditions were amended on 20 January 2020 to reflect this.
Further amendments were made on 24 June 2020 and again on 6 April 2021 to reflect further changes in the prize.
Further amendments were made on 10 February 2023, including to amend the prize.
