Philadelphia City Paper’s Zach Mader vanquished all contenders in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ Classified Advertising Network’s “Spring Break” sales contest that ended Thursday. As a result, Mader, who has never traveled beyond North America and doesn’t currently own a passport, will enjoy a one-week trip to the destination of his choice among 40 possible options. The contest prize includes round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations for two.

After weighing the alternatives, Mader has decided to go to Prague. “Fiji was actually my first choice, but I didn’t want to spend all that vacation time traveling. Prague is just a few hours away,” Mader says.

Because City Paper generated the most new AAN CAN revenue during the contest period, the paper’s classified manager, Jeff Illes, also won a trip for two to the destination of his choice. Illes hasn’t yet zeroed in on a destination but is toying with the idea of going to Berlin or Rome. He hasn’t identified a traveling companion but says he is “willing to be bribed.”

“Zach worked really hard on the contest, and the customers required a lot of relationship building and service. It’s gratifying that all that hard work paid off. And it’s a good lesson for the rest of my staff,” Illes says.

AAN CAN finished the second quarter at $294,862, which is more than $108,000 over budget. The “Spring Break” contest brought in more than $40,000 in new business during that three-month period.