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

By Ethan Gelber

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The lion is one of the Big Five found in Kruger National Park, the country’s largest game reserve and a superb place for a safari (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

The clock’s ticking. Every hour we move closer to 4pm South Africa time on 11 June 2010, when the World Cup 2010 kicks off in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium. The anticipation is palpable, but so is the growing frustration and sometimes anger about the absurd room rates and out-of-focus travel opportunities in a country driven by high expectations.

So what are you to do? Are there reasonably priced accommodation options anywhere in South Africa? How can one find exciting and responsible travel options beyond the pomp of a month of games? And, as we’ve written about already, is there any way of ensuring that some of the money spent will be fairly distributed, so that the inflated profits benefit as wide a cross-section of people as possible, not just the already rich and powerful?
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Posted under General, South Africa, countries, local tips, responsible organisations, responsible travel, responsible travel news, whl.travel newsletter

By Luke Ford

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Chez Galip at his wheel in his pottery workshop in Avanos, Turkey

A traditional wood stove in the corner of the sitting room heats the cool stone walls of this large cave-house turned workshop and gallery quarried into the hills of the town of Avanos in central Turkey. Homemade wine adds to the warmth as the ever-steady hands of Chez Galip, a local artist, hover over a spinning traditional potter’s kick wheel and mold masterpieces of times past from wet clumps of terracotta-red and mineral-rich clay taken fresh from the nearby Kızılırmak, or ‘Red River’.

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Posted under General, Turkey, countries, local tips, whl.travel newsletter

When the stadiums are empty, plan a tour or activity in or near the World Cup host cities to get to know the real South Africa

By Ethan Gelber and Crystel Carre-Hodgson

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“This World Cup belongs to Africa!” declared Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, at the Cape Town Convention Centre on 5 December 2009, the long-awaited day of the World Cup 2010 draw. Needless to say, since then, Africa’s already considerable pride at hosting the world’s most popular sporting event grows by the day, in lock step with the excitement of soccer fanatics from all across the continent (and around the world) eagerly awaiting kickoff of the first game – South Africa versus Mexico in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium at 4pm local time on 11 June 2010.

Supporters of Bafana Bafana, the South Africa national soccer team (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

The success of the World Cup will however be measured by more than just the tenacity of the teams. Nearly 500,000 people are expected to visit South Africa from game 1 until the finals precisely one month later. Their presence comes as an important economic injection, especially in the tourism sector, as the hordes head out to experience the country.

So, as a primer for the independent traveller in South Africa during the games – the traveller passionate about soccer, but also about meeting and making a difference with the local communities hosting the games – here’s a quick overview of how between games you can connect with the people, just a small but important step in being a good guest.
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Posted under General, South Africa, countries, local tips, whl.travel newsletter

After the successful launch of Urban Adventures on October 1, 2009, the business has been moving from strength to strength. The month of November, in particular, was very productive in network growth and technological improvements. Now just 71 days after officially opening our days, there are 28 destinations and 94 adventures live, with new product being added each week. Destinations already operating include major centres like New York, London, Rio de Janeiro, Delhi, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Sydney, Bangkok, Vancouver, Nairobi, Kathmandu, Lima and Auckland.

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Posted under Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, General, Greece, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Latvia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, United Kingdom, Zambia, responsible travel news, whl.travel news

By Luke Ford

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With 167 countries represented by over 5000 exhibitors, the first open-trade day of the World Travel Market in London was certainly no-holds-barred. Enticing the crowds meant dishing out the tastiest of local cuisines, turning up the volume on some truly local tunes, donning traditional garb and even, in some cases bringing out the celebrities to really raise the temperature (was that Kylie or her sister?). WTM, now in its 30th year, remains the principal event on the travel industry’s calendar and presents a valuable opportunity for all those involved.

whl.travel's Luke Ford (centre) takes a moment at the WTM with Mr Kim (left) and Ms Lee of Holiday Planners, the whl.travel local connection for South Korea

WHL Group, parent company of whl.travel, was also in attendance, sharing the messages of whl.travel, Urban Adventures and WHL Consulting, all of which were received positively. With a growing network around the world in more than 90 countries, whl.travel was there with 15-plus whl.travel local connections.

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

On 1 October 2009, Urban Adventures opened a whole new world to travellers yearning to unlock the secrets of some of their favourite urban centres. A global range of city-based tours, Urban Adventures is a franchise-based network of local tour operators specialising in high-quality experiential tour and activity services.

Urban Adventures drop the barriers between visitors and hosts, bringing you in direct contact with the people who give a place its character. Kids in Cambodia are especially expert at making you feel right at home.

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Posted under Brazil, Brunei, General, Greece, Jamaica, Latvia, Mexico, Philippines, Portugal, Samoa, Turkey, Zambia, local tips, new local connections, responsible travel, responsible travel news, whl.travel news, whl.travel newsletter

By Ethan Gelber

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The results are in and the veil has been lifted on the top finalists! The entire whl.travel network congratulates NatureAir, PEPY and Wikiloc for their well-deserved rewards and recognition in the Geotourism Challenge 2009, to Ger to Ger, Context Travel and Cobati (Community Based Tourism Initiatives) as recipients of the first Urban Adventures Prize, and to Ger to Ger, Cape Race and RiverIndia for the scholarships they’ve won as part of the Tourdust Scholarship.
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Posted under Cambodia, Canada, General, India, Mongolia, Spain, USA, Uganda, awards, responsible organisations, responsible travel, responsible travel news, whl.travel news, whl.travel newsletter

What do you get when you bring together more than 25 local travel experts from the Asia-Pacific region with the international whl.travel team? An awesome burst of organisational creativity that has reaffirmed to all who attended the whl.travel Asia Pacific Regional Conference that we’re on the right path to something amazing.

The group comes together at the end of several long days of work

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Posted under General, Vietnam, countries, whl.travel news, whl.travel newsletter

whl.travel now has a regional office in midtown Miami, Florida, USA. Its presence on the continent heralds the expansion of whl.travel’s unique grassroots travel network into the important markets of North America and the Caribbean.

From this office, new destination sales efforts have already been launched in Mexico and work has been redoubled to continue expansion in the Caribbean.

The Miami office is the fifth regional presence for whl.travel, which already has staff located in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Cape Town (South Africa), Prague (Czech Republic) and Sydney (Australia).

Recently returning to the US after a 3.5 years of in South Africa and building up the whl.travel Africa office, Zachary Rozga has an interest in leveraging the mass-market orientation of the US travel industry to develop a more sustainable approach to travel. Zack manages the expressions of interest for both whl.travel and Urban Adventures in the North America and Caribbean region, and oversees the work of WHL Consulting. Please direct all enquiries to zachary [at] whl.travel.

On her first trip to Africa 12 years ago, Jodi McKeeman saw the true benefits and detriments of tourism on a place and people, and sought ways to develop a more sustainable industry. After three years in Cape Town running the whl.travel Africa office, she is now back in the US supporting whl.travel’s local partners in the North America and Caribbean region.

Michelle Rodrigues, in her final year as a hospitality management student (with a journalism minor) at Florida International University, recently joined the whl.travel team as the content editor for the region.

Posted under General, whl.travel news