On June 12, despite earlier announcements to the contrary, whl.travel was revealed as one of five winners in the first ‘Globetrotting for Good – The Condé Nast Traveler Challenge’, hosted by Ashoka’s Changemakers.

“whl.travel is truly defining what innovation means in the field of tourism,” said Charlie Brown, Executive Director of Ashoka’s Changemakers. “Their ability to bridge the gap between traveller and destination is unique in that it doesn’t just service a single tourist but is building a movement.”

Along with whl.travel, whl.travel’s new affiliate in Santa Marta, Colombia, and three other deserving progammes will be highlighted in the September 2009 ‘Power of Place’ issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine.

The ‘Globetrotting for Good – The Condé Nast Traveler Challenge was launched as as a way for Condé Nast to identify strong ideas for improving travel, tourism and opportunities that lead to change in the industry, especially in terms of how it can promote good in the world. Key competition criteria were innovation, social impact and sustainability.

The competition welcome letter puts it well:

“We believe that travelers and the travel industry have great power to do good in the world. They can help preserve environments, combat poverty and disease, enable education. Travelers can be the best global citizens, but to do so, they must become involved with the communities they visit – experiencing other cultures, listening and learning, and carrying the newly gained knowledge back home. This competition is about finding the best ideas for promoting global citizenship: how travelers can contribute meaningfully to the lives of local people and how travel companies can encourage guests to engage with communities.”

Changemakers will also continue to showcase entrants’ ideas to travel leaders, connect innovators with each other and the Changemakers community, and work to build a global community of good travellers.

This round of the The Condé Nast Traveler Challenge is the first of six. The second round, entitled ‘Connecting to the World: The Conde Nast Traveler Challenge’, begins on Tuesday 23 June and focuses on travellers: how more people can be encouraged to hit the road, and how those who can’t afford it or who face discrimination can be helped to connect to the world?

More Information

Read the whl.travel ‘Globetrotting for Good’ entry here: www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/22221.

Read about whl.travel Santa Marta against children’s malnutrition in Colombia here: www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/22998.

For more about Ashoka’s Changemaker’s, start here: www.whl.travel/blog/?p=25.

Ashoka’s Changemakers is also hosting the ‘Power of Place – Geotourism Challenge 2009′, a National Geographic initiative in partnership with whl.travel.

Tags:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 11:34 pm and is filed under the following categories: