On April 29, at the 2010 Travel Distribution Summit Asia in Singapore, a Web Innovation Award for Best Travel Startup of the Year was awarded to Urban Adventures.

“As a team and a network we’re thrilled to be name Best Travel Startup of the Year,” commented Mark Robson, CEO of Urban Adventures. “It’s a reflection of all the hard work contributed by everyone at Urban Adventures, the collective network of Intrepid and the WHL Group, and especially our fantastic Urban Adventure Partners all over the globe. We’re looking forward to a very bright future of providing travellers unique day tours in a responsible and sustainable manner.”

Urban Adventures, which was also shortlisted in the Most Exciting New Use of Technology in Travel category, was launched in October 2009 and has quickly grown into a global force, recently featured on Getaway, Australia’s favourite travel show.

Unique Day Tours in over 100 Cities by the End of 2010

Urban Adventures are a global range of city-based tours. Ranging from two-hour to one-day experiences, they may be short in duration, but they’re long on real-life experiences. They put you in touch with what makes a city tick and acquaint you with the local food, culture and traditions, all in the company of an expert local guide. On an Urban Adventure, you see more than just the usual sights.

Whether you’re after an evening of home cooking and hanging locally in Istanbul, a full-day exploration of the magnificent temples of the Angkor complex in Cambodia, visiting the history and people of Johannesburg by bicycle or sampling Los Angeles, from Hollywood glitz to the quirkiness of Venice Beach, Urban Adventures really connect with the destination.

The Urban Adventures business was developed by leading adventure travel operator Intrepid Travel and the WHL Group, the largest local-travel company in the world. Urban Adventures relies on a combination of Intrepid Travel’s experience in designing and running the world’s best experiential trips, plus the WHL Group’s network of local operators and the technology to sell these trips at low cost. Intrepid and WHL Group share a commitment to local and sustainable travel with a minimum impact on the environment and on communities.

Urban Adventures depart daily with groups of no more than 12 people. Prices start from US$15.

Web Innovation Awards Asia/Pacific 2010

The 2010 Web Innovation Awards are “for the industry, decided by the industry,” presented as a “celebrating the most creative, successful and groundbreaking companies that are driving innovation in the Asian online travel market.”

For a list of other winners and shortlisted companies, see www.travelmole.com/webawards_asia_2010.php#Winners.

Ethan Gelber

For more than 20 years, Ethan Gelber has devoted himself to a somewhat baffling diversity of projects, most associated with writing/editing, cross-cultural communication and education, travel, bicycling and the arts. At present, he manages media and communications for the WHL Group, oversees The Travel Word (this very blog) and helped initiate the Local Travel Movement.

Other posts by Ethan:

• What is Slow Travel? Here’s What We Think
• Meet the Best whl.travel Local Travel Experts of 2011
• Gunyah.com, Marketplace for Authentic Short-Break Vacations, Is Shortlisted by Caribbean Web Awards 2012

View a full list of posts by Ethan.
Read more about +Ethan

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