A little bit of background for travellers
We hope you'll like our fresh new approach to online travel bookings and connecting you up with accommodation, tours and activities which are often impossible to find on other sites. We have done this is by teaming up with locals in every destination we service. They know the great places to stay and things to do and can get this information online for you to check out. WHL's job is to give them the online tools to get the information online and to connect their site to you so that you can book what they have to offer.
The idea for this approach was borne from the frustration of reading about great places to stay and things to do in publications like Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, etc. but not being able to book them; a real pain, and also a big impediment to giving local providers a chance to benefit from tourism. The problem is particularly bad in much of the developing world, and on the road less travelled.
So, several years later, and after some great support from the World Bank/IFC group which saw the potential for this model to open up tourism in the developing world to the independent traveller market, we are now out there and trying to make our mark. We really hope you like what you see and that you'll let others know about this fresh approach to getting some great new travel experiences online.
One more thing before you move on to the destination sites to check out where you'd like to go. We'd really appreciate it if you checked out all those accommodation providers and tours etc where you see the green "caring for the destination ratings". If you support these people by staying with them or taking their tours, and feed back on what you think about what they are doing (we'll survey you after the trip), this will encourage them and others to do more to save their destination; a bit of "traveller power" being used to encourage a longer term view of how to look after the destination.
Many thanks, and enjoy your trip.
