Modeled after the extremely successful "Island Reef Job" tourism promotion created by Tourism Queensland (www.islandreefjob.com), Host Our Coast is a summer promotion designed to use new media to showcase the parks, small towns, museums, and heritage sites of the Delaware and Maryland coast.

The partnership that created Host Our Coast includes Worcester County Tourism, Southern Delaware Tourism, the Rural Development Center at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, the Town of Berlin, Maryland.com, Full City Media, and Delmarva Low-Impact Tourism Experiences (DLITE).

Host Our Coast started as an online contest in April 2009. 72 applicants competed to become the "host" through an online video and sample blog submission. After a thorough selection process, Paul Cox was announced as the Host Our Coast winner on June 17. Paul and girlfriend Melanie McLean will work as DLITE's summer travel journalists through mid-August 2009.

DLITE will provide Paul and Melanie with a schedule of events, people, and places to visit on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland and Southern Delaware. Adventures will include kayaking, cycling, hiking, wildlife watching, beachcombing, and fishing - if it involves water and sun and fun - Paul and Melanie will be there!

At www.hostourcoast.com, Paul and Melanie will be providing daily online videos, vlogs, blog posts, photos, and online announcements of their adventures through Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites.

In between their travels, Paul and Melanie will be living for free in the luxurious Makai Condominiums on 42nd Street in Ocean City, Maryland. The Makai is within a short walking distance of the beach and ocean, and several local summer fun hotspots and clubs. In addition to the free luxury accommodations offered by the Makai, Paul will receive $10,000 for a two-month contract as DLITE's summer travel journalist.

We hope that you will check back daily to see what Paul and Melanie will be doing, and to plan your own nature and heritage adventures on the Delaware and Maryland coast this summer!