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

By Stephen Chapman

.

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.

Read More…

Posted under General, opinion, whl.travel newsletter

whl.travel moves from strength to strength in the two regions, with local coverage spanning 60 live destinations in 31 countries

.

The St. Nicholas Church at Malostranske Namesti in Prague’s Lesser Town is the stunning backdrop of the Europe and Middle East regional office of whl.travel

whl.travel is a global online travel-booking network that began as a pilot project of the International Finance Corporation, or IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), helping unique, locally owned travel product gain access to international markets. whl.travel, now a private company, has since become a springboard for independent consumers headed off the beaten path and yearning to travel with local businesses, no matter how small, and especially those making socially responsible and sustainable decisions about their destinations, often in the developing world.

As of late December 2009, the whl.travel network spans nearly 200 live destinations in 85 countries, with another 100 or so under construction, including 10 new countries.

Read More…

Posted under General, responsible travel, responsible travel news, whl.travel news

by Paul Tavner

.

As part of the run up to next week’s Fringe Responsible Travel Network event, we’re talking with veteran attendees. I caught up with Stephen Chapman, founder of Make Travel Fair (a media sponsor of the event along with whl.travel), to get his take on past events and to see what he’s looking forward to on Monday 9 November.

.

Past Experiences

Stephen Chapman - Founder of Make Travel Fair

It was a great event last year. In fact I travelled into London especially for this event and didn’t attend WTM. For me this may become increasingly what happens as this year even more small events like this are cropping up on the fringes of WTM. There was a great mix of people [at the Fringe RT Network event] last year and the atmosphere was relaxed and perfect for chatting over a few drinks. It’s always great to have opportunities to connect in this sort of setting, particularly these days when we can spend so much time interacting online with people all around the world.

. Read More…

Posted under General, responsible organisations, responsible travel, responsible travel news

By Paul Tavner

.

Monday November 9 marks the beginning of the 2009 World Travel Market, one of the travel industry’s most important annual events. While many people from around the world will be descending throughout the week on London’s ExCeL centre to meet, greet and do business, an increasing number will also be making a beeline to the Fringe RT Network Event – 6:30pm to 11pm in the Pavilion End Bar, close to the heart of the city – to meet, engage and inspire.

The Fringe Responsible Travel Network Event @ WTM, pictured here from a previous year, is a chance to connect and reconnect with people passionate about responsible travel

Read More…

Posted under General, responsible organisations, responsible travel, responsible travel news, whl.travel news, whl.travel newsletter

On 24 June in London, the winners of the 2009 Travelmole Web Awards were announced. Although both whl.travel and its partner Make Travel Fair were shortlisted, neither took home top honours. We remain no less committed to the work we are doing and look forward to perhaps working with the winners, all of whom we congratulate.

Of the 300 nominations and after more than 15,000 votes, whl.travel was one of four finalists in the Responsible Travel category (see the whl.travel entry), and Make Travel Fair was to be judged along with three others in the Travel Blog category (see the MTF entry).

The finalists were those chosen by Travelmole subscribers, but the ultimate judgment fell to a panel of experts.

Other awards categories covered accommodation, airlines, car rental, cruise and ferry operators, holiday add-ons, hotel groups, mobile technology, recruitment and training, tourist boards, tour operators, travel agents, travel videos and Web 2.0.

Posted under General, awards, responsible travel, whl.travel news

On Thursday 18 June at 13:00 GMT, the second session of a free webinar (Web-based seminar) series about responsible tourism welcomed travel publishers to the stage. Four speakers representing Bradt Guides, Footprint Travel Guides, Lonely Planet Publications and Wanderlust magazine were scheduled to share how responsible tourism is increasingly important to them and their organisations, but sound problems kept two out of the live discussion.

Seated around the virtual table were:

MODERATORS
* Sally Broom, CEO of Your Safe Planet & Fringe Network
* Stephen Chapman, Founder of Make Travel Fair

SPEAKERS
* Tom Hall, Travel Editor at Lonely Planet Publications
* Dan Linstead, Editor of Wanderlust magazine
* Alan Murphy, Commissioning Editor and Publisher, Footprint Travel Guides
* Adrian Phillips, Publishing Director at Bradt Travel Guides.

Biographical material about the moderators and speakers can be found below.

During the 60-minute session, Tom Hall and Adrian Phillips made brief presentations about what is (and is not) being done to give readers what they need to travel as responsibly as possible. A question-and-answer period followed, and included the participation of Toby Sawday from Sawday Publishing.

For details, consult:

* a written account of all that was said by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet
* a written account all that was said by Adrian Phillips of Bradt Travel Guides
* written questions and answers compiled from the webinar chat room
* the full recording of the webinar with voice conflicts that were not present during the live session
* the full chat transcript

Read More…

Posted under General, responsible travel, responsible travel news, webinar

Chinatown is often the area for budget accommodation and an intriguing cultural experience in its own right. But remember that it doesn’t represent the entire city.

By Stephen Chapman

.

Zainald grills his halal satay in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. Photo © Stephen Chapman

Most people are familiar with a Chinatown, often the location of cheap eats and sleeps and hives of activity day and night. I recently returned to Kuala Lumpur (capital city of Malaysia) and was granted a fascinating perspective from the point of view of a Malay and it emphasised something extremely important.

Whether it’s based on a desire to rough it and to get under the skin of a place, or on Chinatown being known as a backpacker hangout, many travellers gravitate there. When you use Chinatown as a base from which to explore, particularly in Asia, there is a tendency to believe that it is in some way representative of the culture and character of the city within which it’s based, and for Kuala Lumpur and many other cities around the world this is far from the truth. It is no more representative of a city in Asia than it is of San Francisco, New York or London. There is no denying its value and influence, particularly on Kuala Lumpur, but it is only a small piece of the cultural jigsaw that makes up a city.
Read More…

Posted under General, Malaysia, countries, local tips, responsible traveller, whl.travel newsletter

whl.travel joins global partners in launching a series of responsible tourism webinars

.

On Thursday 4 June, four leading global advocates of responsible tourism spoke and listened at a free public webinar (Web-based seminar) about the present and future of their fast-expanding industry. It was the first in a series of regular online gatherings that will tackle the crosscutting issues and universal appeal of responsible tourism as it applies to a broad range of constituencies in all sectors. Beginning at the next session, local advocates and practitioners of travel and tourism who share a belief in a responsible way forward will be invited to share their thoughts and respond to listener questions.

Read More…

Posted under General, responsible travel, responsible travel news, webinar, whl.travel news, whl.travel newsletter

On Thursday 4 June at 13:00 GMT, six leading global advocates of responsible tourism spoke and listened at a free public webinar (Web-based seminar) about the present and future of their fast-expanding industry. This inauguration of a regular series of online gatherings also served as a call for future discussion topics and guest speakers.

The hosting sextet began discussing and illustrating some of the thoughts and ideas propounded during Responsible Tourism Week 2009 – an online discussion held the week of May 18-22 that focussed on responsible tourism around the world. Using examples pulled from their extensive store of experiences or promoted through their organisations, the speakers’ primary objective was to demonstrate the universal appeal of responsible tourism to a broad range of constituencies in all sectors.

If you wish to listen to and then share the proceedings of this completed webinar, a full recording, a chat transcript and written summary are all available online.

After your listen, please share with us:

• your thoughts (constructive and deconstructuve) about this first webinar
• the topics/themes you would like us to address in coming sessions
• the names and/or kinds of qualifications of guest presenters you would like us to invite to coming sessions.

We hope to see you at our next webinar: 1pm GMT on 18 June. Mark it in your calendars and share the news with others.

Read More…

Posted under General, responsible travel, responsible travel news, webinar

whl.travel is slowly but surely lifting into more visible flying space. Despite the tumult of these financially unstable times and while other travel companies contract, whl.travel continues to expand, reaching across and deep into new destinations, refining content and improving access to it, striking up new collaborative relationships with other players that share sustainable and responsible tourism values and even working on new joint ventures with some of the tourism industry’s better-known players (stay tuned for these announcements).

“I think you will be seeing a lot more of whl.travel in the media over the coming months,” said Len Cordiner, CEO of whl.travel. Boy is he right.

Read More…

Posted under Armenia, General, Laos, Nepal, countries, responsible travel news, whl.travel news, whl.travel newsletter