Photo by Winfried Werzmirzowsky
Text by Hripsime Badalyan, whl.travel local connection
in Yerevan, Armenia

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This photo was taken by one of our clients from Germany. It is of a ‘wish tree’ in the southern part of Armenia, in the Syunik region. You can find such trees in many places across Armenia, but usually they are found close to churches, monasteries and chapels. Legend has it that a wish will come true after a person ties his or her handkerchief to a tree branch and walks around the tree seven times.

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Posted under Armenia, Photo of the Week, countries

By Johnny Hogue

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As perhaps the premier Mediterranean destination for diving, Kaş, located on the south coast of Turkey, frequently mesmerises first-time visitors. It seems to have a magical quality that people return to again and again. This is particularly true for scuba divers and snorkelers, who discover in Kaş’s waters its unusual shore formations, ancient and modern wrecks, reefs, canyons and large caves.

Around Kaş, Turkey, the crystal-clear turquoise Mediterranean Sea, purified by local currents, offers excellent diving conditions

In fact, the Turkish diver community has declared the nearby rocky reefs to be the country’s best. In the waters of Kaş, lucky divers can thrill to a swim alongside a gentle giant sea turtle or the rare Mediterranean monk seal, both carefully protected. Schools of dolphins sometimes race a dive boat out of the Kaş marina. Groupers appear on almost every dive, along with schools of calamari and small barracuda.
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Posted under General, Turkey, countries, local tips, responsible travel, whl.travel newsletter

By Paula Ferreira

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On the morning of Saturday, 20 February 2010, the south of Madeira Island was lashed by an incredible 52mm of rainfall in one hour (9:00 to 10:00). The consequence was a series of mudslides and floods that struck mainly in the capital city of Funchal, Ribeira Brava and several other smaller towns in the area.

Flood waters fill the Avenida Arriaga of Funchal, Madeira, the day after heavy rains provoked deadly mudslides

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Posted under Portugal, countries, whl.travel newsletter

What needs to happen in the local travel knowledge website space…

By Stephen Chapman

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Network Cables / Flickr photo by pascal.charest

The internet is all about social these days, it has been for sometime, and as more of us become more active on the major social networking sites it’s becoming increasingly apparent that although our number of ‘friends’, ‘followers’ or ‘connections’ can be huge, the opportunities for us each to leverage the intelligence that’s locked away in the minds of our contacts are minimal.

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Posted under General, opinion, whl.travel newsletter

Image by Vika Waqa
Text by Kolinio Rokuta, whl.travel local connection in Fiji

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Bure (pronounced boo-reh) is the Fijian word for a traditional family dwelling, with a design that represents one of the finest examples of workmanship in Fiji. It is a thatched hut usually constructed from palm and bamboo, and is accompanied by an outside kitchen. The bure pictured here is located on the island of Nacula in the Yasawa Group.

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Posted under Fiji, General, Photo of the Week, countries

This article was first published by our friends at Intrepid Travel, who have agreed to its republication here.
View the original article on their Intrepid Express Blog.

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Faced with the daunting experience of landing in a strange city for the first time, sometimes it feels like our fate is in the hands of the gods. So these tips from Intrepid’s Danielle Jeffreson will help your Thailand holiday get off to a great start.

The floating markets of Bangkok draw both locals and tourists in Thailand (photo courtesy of Alison Agnew)

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Posted under General, Thailand, countries, local tips, responsible travel

VOIR CI-DESSOUS POUR CE MESSAGE EN FRANÇAIS / SEE BELOW FOR THIS MESSAGE IN FRENCH

Often called the ‘Red City’ or the ‘Jewel of the South’, Marrakech has for centuries been regarded as the quintessential Moroccan city. Once home to camel caravans, it is today a seamless fabric of old-world traditions and elements of the new, and continues to exude an unmatchable charm. Although Marrakech is not the country’s capital (a privilege belonging to Rabat), it is an epicentre of Moroccan tourism and one of Morocco’s Imperial Cities.

Jemaa el Fna Square of Marrakech, Morocco, with its Koutoubia Mosque in the background, is the beating heart of the city

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Posted under General, Morocco, countries, new local connections, whl.travel news

By Michelle Rodrigues

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As the world continues to see greater numbers of travellers, locally owned and small travel products are often not able to keep up the pace with Internet advances. Today tourists often prefer to search and book online and this phenomenon is cutting out small operators who do not have the skills or the soft infrastructure (photographs and quality written content) to participate on the Web.

Locals participate in the harvest of the blue agave, the key ingredient required for the production of tequila

A World Heritage Site is a place recongised by the World Heritage Centre, administered by UNESCO, with a significant cultural and physical importance. Tequila, Mexico is one of these places. WHL Consulting is working in Tequila with the Consejo Regulador del Tequila in support of La Ruta del Tequila to build the capacity of small and locally owned tourism products in and around the World Heritage Site of Tequila, Mexico, original source of the popular alcoholic beverage.

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Posted under General, Mexico, countries, responsible organisations, whl.travel news

Image and text by Darron Raw,
whl.travel local connection in Swaziland

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Swaziland’s Gobholo Caves are unusual. They remain 95% unexplored and undocumented. What is known is that it is very rare to find caves of this age and magnitude in granite rock. Granite does not erode like most cave-forming rocks. Instead these caves were formed from an ancient boulder choke that has since being buried entirely underground. The cave is kept open by the periodic flooding of the Gobholo River that flows through the system for approximately two kilometres.

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Posted under General, Photo of the Week, Swaziland, countries

On 8 February, the body of Chrystel Cancel was positively identified, nearly a month after the devastating earthquakes in Haiti levelled the Hotel Montana on top of her. She had only had just arrived in Port-au-Prince. We pay tribute to her here because she was a trusted part of our family.

Chrystel Cancel grew up in Toulouse, France. After earning both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Toulouse, Chrystel graduated from the University of Paris in 1999 with another Masters in Political Science, specialising in developing countries. A passion for travel, adventure and international development led her to Washington, DC, where she obtained a Masters in Tourism Administration from the George Washington University in 2006.

Chrystel spent the majority of her career as a dedicated sustainable tourism consultant leaving her lasting legacy on a variety of projects around the world.

We will never be able to give voice to the thousands of people Chrystel touched, both directly and indirectly. We hope that a few short remarks from some of the people with whom she worked will impart a sense of her spirit, her character… and the empty space we now feel in her absence.

See below for short tributes to Chrystel from:

• Len Cordiner, CEO of the WHL Group
• Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting
• Simon Jones, Vice President of Solimar International
• Sandrine-Pia Casto, General Manager of Tucaya Panama

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Posted under General, opinion, responsible organisations, responsible traveller, whl.travel newsletter