Inspired by Make Travel Fair’s 10 #whltravel Tweeps Twittering, which was in turn inspired by the 10 #Travel Tweeps Twittering post published on Matador’s Travelers Notebook, here are another 10 pictures of twitter users from the WHL Group.

There’s apparently a lot to be said for and against what I’ll dub ‘semiformal home-accommodation networks,’ aka ‘couchsurfing.’ For example, there are valid concerns about how these networks are counterproductive (especially to local travel) since they “deprive the local accommodation providers of revenue.” Here’s an overview of a volley of comments.

Brazil is already gearing up for two major international events: the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. The country’s tourism infrastructure is however not keeping pace. Redressing some of these market concerns is an innovative program, called Project:Exposure, sponsored by the Multilateral Investments Fund (MIF), a fund administrated by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Last week, the WHL Group and Spotted by Locals launched the Local Travel Movement, a platform promoting the local way of travel. The goal in unveiling the website is to rally Local Travel organisations, experts and practitioners with a passion for Local Travel and commitment to the values that underpin it.

The ‘begats’ are almost biblical. In the beginning there was www.worldhotel-link.com, a development project of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In 2006, it begat whl.travel, a private business that is now a global online travel-booking franchise network of local tourism companies in nearly 300 destinations. In July 2009, it then begat the WHL Group.