NEW DELHI: Travel site TripAdvisor has launched a new creative ad challenge for travel brands and advertising agencies to design a creative ad campaign that will run on TripAdvisor websites.

The company has set aside a total prize fund of $1.5 million, and the winning entry on the TripAdvisor India site will receive $100,000 in equivalent CPM (cost per mille).

The 2012 TripAdvisor Creative Ad Challenge gives the industry an opportunity to showcase their creativity and talent through the highly interactive medium of online ad display and the chance to impact a global audience of travellers, who are looking for inspiration while planning their next trip.

TripAdvisor VP Display Sales EMEA Martin Verdon-Roe said, "The 2012 Creative Challenge gives travel brands the freedom to develop an engaging media campaign that tells a story and shows what their brand really stands for, rather than just focusing on the more traditional ROI price point creative that is so common online. Following the success of our last challenge which was hosted in UK last year, this year it‘s even bigger and provides multiple opportunities for travel brands to win specific market campaigns."

This year the challenge has been expanded to include 11 markets across Europe and APAC. From the Europe market UK, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey are part of the challenge while in APAC, India, Australia, Singapore, China and Japan are included. All travel brands and advertising agencies from the respective countries are entitled to participate in the challenge.

All entries must be submitted by 31 May - the winning campaigns will run on TripAdvisor between August and October.

The campaigns will be judged by a panel of TripAdvisor sales and marketing experts, as well as representatives from the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).