The three winners have been announced and The Travel Word is honoured to present the top three essays. After having published stories by the third- and second-place finishers, the following is from the first-place winner.

The day after Spain held aloft the 2010 World Cup trophy, we found ourselves listening to South African talkback radio during a long drive down towards the country’s picturesque Eastern Cape. The topic for the show was what hosting the World Cup had meant to each listener.

As the kilometres whizzed by, caller after caller expressed their pride, as South Africans, at having proven the doubters wrong by staging one of the most spectacular sporting events ever. The tournament had been an unabashed success: the third-highest attendance of any World Cup, marked by a carnival atmosphere throughout (despite the early elimination of the host country’s team), and barely a security incident to speak of. Hundreds of thousands of international visitors had left the country wowed.

A view of the interior of a World Cup stadium. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Jason Wojciechowski

A Transformed Nation

It had been no small achievement for South Africa to pull off. For so many people to watch the matches, the nation had constructed seven glistening new state-of-the-art stadiums, each of distinctly African architecture. Several cities, Cape Town and Johannesburg among them, had also launched vastly improved mass rapid transit systems to ferry spectators out to each venue. To allow smooth passage between the nine host cities, road networks and airports had been greatly upgraded.

Violent crime, so central to the country’s international reputation, had been reduced by 60 percent during the tournament to make South Africa one of the safest host nations in living memory. With crime down, host cities could show off their redeveloped waterfront districts and entertainment areas and all and sundry could confidently walk along the streets well into the night. For the few crimes that did occur, increased police deployments and 56 dedicated World Cup courts provided swift and decisive justice.

Why, asked one caller, did these achievements have to end now that the tournament was over? The question is a particularly pertinent one: Why could South Africans not continue to do for themselves what they had done so well for the massive influx of international visitors?

An Epic Road Trip

My partner Dave and I were two of the most enthusiastic among this influx of ‘visitors’ (South Africa’s term for international tourists). During the 31 days of the tournament, we drove around 8,000 kilometres to watch eleven of the 64 matches played, visiting eight of the ten stadiums in the process and passing through every single South African province. Our epic odyssey saw us cross paths with other visitors from every continent on earth, as well as South Africans from all walks of life. And it had all taken place amidst a stunning diversity of landscapes and wildlife, ensuring that the long journey was never for a moment dull.

Fans at the World Cup in South Africa. Photo courtesy of Flickr/babasteve

The South African Welcome

Quite apart from the spectacular stadiums, the clockwork organisation and the amazing games, it was the genuine warmth and welcome from all South Africans, regardless of race, ethnic group and economic background, that made attending the tournament such a remarkable experience.

Everywhere we went, once people discovered we were ‘visitors,’ they would instantly initiate conversations with us. More than once, while waiting for our car to be refilled, we would be spontaneously approached by another young black petrol station attendant who just wanted to chat about football.

We also met numerous older wealthier white South Africans, many of whom were more interested in the upcoming rugby season and the match against the New Zealand All Blacks.

While doing a coastal hike in between matches, a lovely couple asked about how we were enjoying our time in South Africa, where we were going, our background and interests. They even recommended a lovely place for lunch.

No one seemed to take notice of us being an inter-racial couple (I am a Chinese who grew up in New Zealand and Dave is an Australian of Scottish descent).

Racial and Social Divisions Still Exist

And yet, as wonderful a host as each South African was, even the most casual visitor could not miss the social and economic divisions that are everywhere apparent. The democratic elections that swept Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power may have taken place 16 years prior, but the change of political system could not erase Apartheid’s legacy overnight.

Many of the towns we visited remained visibly divided into different suburbs that were effectively two different worlds. Poorer, more dilapidated streets and suburbs made up a world inhabited by black South Africans, while just across the way others lived in a better kept, visibly more affluent world. Beyond this geographic separation, different groups seemed to keep to themselves even where day-to-day life brought them into close proximity. People of different races may now sit in the same cafes and restaurants, but we rarely saw them sitting around the same table.

The divisions on view were not simply between black and white, or between the various other “colours” represented within the population of the Rainbow Nation. With the stark inequalities between the nation’s rich and poor, the haves and have-nots of each Apartheid-era grouping also had their separate worlds. In Johannesburg, Durban and Mthatha, we encountered a black middle class whose lifestyles are far removed from those living in rural townships. We also saw a vignette of social tensions between different white people in an exchange at a fan park between fellow South Africans supporters of the Dutch team. When the one fan failed to understand a sentence in Afrikaans from the other and answered “I speak English,” the other angrily retorted “Then you’re not a real Dutch fan.”

The contrast between the attitudes of South Africans to ‘visitors’ and their guardedness with each other poses a second pertinent question: If South Africans could extend such universal goodwill to visitors of all races and ethnic groups from around the world, why could this sense of trust and togetherness not always be extended to each other?

World Cup Legacy

In trumpeting the success of the World Cup, the South African government has focused on the concrete economic benefits: masses of new jobs in the construction and hospitality industries generated in preparation for the influx of visitors, a noticeable bump in gross domestic product (GDP) from the money spent in-country by visitors, and shiny newly built infrastructure. The infrastructure apart, however, these tangible benefits are inescapably short-term. Employment, for instance, is expected to decrease in the coming year now that there are no more stadiums to build, while the GDP bump is likely to be just that: a one-off anomaly.

In Cape Town, visitors can explore traditionally multicultural areas that date back to the 19th Century. Photo courtesy of Flickr/neiljs

If these were to be the only benefits of hosting the World Cup and receiving so many visitors, then South Africans might rightly question the cost. But what we have seen during our approximately 8,000-kilometre journey across the country suggests a more significant legacy from the tournament, albeit one that is less tangible: South Africans have shown to the rest of the world that their nation is capable of making its streets safe, of providing quality and secure public transport and, more importantly, of overcoming racial and social barriers in its day-to-day personal interactions. Besides creating a sense of national pride, this achievement can also become a catalyst for the population to realize new possibilities both of what the country, collectively, can deliver and more importantly, the public services and respect that every person deserves.

Some of the improvements made during the World Cup have already been continued. The World Cup courts, for instance, have continued operation in order to assist the regular courts with a logjam of cases. At a personal level, there is also plenty of cause for optimism. During the World Cup, the “fan fests” established in parks, beaches and other public spaces in the host cities were sites where social and economic divisions were left at the gate. Tens of thousands crammed into each of these fests on South Africa match days to will their team to victory; the fests were again packed in the later stages of the tournament as South Africans enthusiastically responded to appeals to adopt a new team. A friendly atmosphere prevailed when everyone was thrown together, with football to break the ice. More flamboyantly dressed fans happily posed for photos with people of all backgrounds, while people mingled, danced together and compared notes on how the match would pan out. It was also in the fan parks that we saw our first inter-racial couple, and saw teenage friends of different races sitting together. This new togetherness did not escape notice by South African commentators, as papers during the tournament were filled with column after column wondering how long and whether it could persist.

If just some of these opportunities for change are seized, then the lasting legacy of the World Cup will be that of having proven to visitors what South Africans could achieve. South Africans have themselves re-imagined what their nation could and should be.

Diane Zhang is from Hamilton, New Zealand. In 2010, after living in Indonesia for six years, she quit her job to travel for several months in Southern Africa, including attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Diane has also travelled extensively in North America, Asia and Australasia.

The three winners have been announced and The Travel Word is honoured to present the top three essays. After having published the third-place finisher, the following is from the second.

When I was in London on July 6, 2005, the city was celebrating. After a long bidding campaign to host the 2012 summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee had declared it the winner. People were cheering in the streets and the media was drunk on the good news. On the subway, everyone was buzzing and smiling until an old bearded man got on board and started nay-saying.  ”London Olympics? Not on my dime!” said his cardboard sign.  ”This is just one more way that the working man’s taxes are siphoned into deep corporate pockets!” he ranted. “The promises are false!”

The subway may not be the best forum to open a dialogue, but the bearded nay-sayer had made an impression on me. If everybody else in the city was joyful with the news, what was this guy talking about? Who was making these promises? How are they false? I decided to entertain the bearded nay-sayer’s position and look into the expectations surrounding this year’s most recent mega-event, the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Do mega-events really keep their promises?

Promise #1: “Huge Economic Benefits!”

Economists talk in numbers about the impact of past mega-events in past host regions and make sunny forecasts about the total effect on job creation, increased GDP, direct foreign investment etc. The actual data for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is still rolling in, but estimates had promised between US$7.6 billion and US$21.3 billion of direct economic benefits from the event. Between 159,000 and 415,000 jobs were estimated to have been created or sustained. An estimated US$40 billion was spent on infrastructure. No wonder hosting mega-events is often projected to be a great economic windfall. In this case, speculators had even called the World Cup bid a ‘turning point’ for South Africa.

Who Actually Benefits?

As the skeptic, my response is that economists and their estimates can’t even agree and their numbers are hollow. They don’t tell you, for example, what investment in other projects could have done. South Africa is a country with extreme economic disparity between the rich and the poor, among other urgent social problems. Yet a hefty amount of World Cup investment is going towards stadium infrastructure.

World Cup Game 2010. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Jason Wojciechowski

Tony Roshan Samara, who has published research on Cape Town politics, commented on the new stadium with a price tag of US$600 million. “In a city where you are struggling to provide housing, education, drug counseling services, in a city that is dealing with a horrible epidemic of methamphetamines, to spend that much money on building a stadium, it is a question of the allocation of resources – whether it is a smart allocation of resources… when you have a city struggling with all these social and development issues.”

Nor do the economic estimates indicate who benefits. As the bearded nay-sayer and other skeptics are apt to point out, it is often mega-private interests that gain the most from the mega-investments of mega-events. Media conglomerates and corporate sponsors are the likely bedfellows of FIFA, and they all come out on top.

Rian Malan, South African reporter for the Telegraph, explains. “South Africa winds up with 10 new stadiums, some smart new infrastructure and £450 million in tourist cash. FIFA walks off with about £2 billion in tax-free profits [from sponsorship and broadcast and licensing deals] – 50 per cent more than it made at the last World Cup in Germany.”

Promise #2: “Good for Tourism!”

Maybe the entire economic picture is messy, but the mega-event advocates say the benefits for the tourism industry are clear. Hosting a mega-event is a marketing boon for a destination, its big chance to project an attractive image when the entire world is watching. “I think it is an opportunity to dispel some of the myths about South Africa and about Africa in general,” said James Stewart, American economist and Africa expert. In fact, destination marketing research has dedicated serious attention to the relationship between mega-events and destination image. A study on Seoul, South Korea, found that foreigners from three different countries had a more positive image of the country after the 2002 World Cup than before, suggesting that a mega-event can change the image of a country in a short time period. In South Africa, destination marketers want to harness the World Cup as a way to ‘brand’ South Africa in a strong and positive way.

Can the Good Tourism Image Last?

But, says the skeptic, all that glitters is not gold. The shiny image is a makeover that can only conceal so much from tourism’s eye for so long. Behind the scenes of the event, egregious displacement temporarily made cities in South Africa more presentable. In Cape Town, homeless people were moved from the downtown area around the stadium into razor-wire-encircled encampments outside the city.

Workers’ rights journalist Michelle Chen spoke to Isaac Newton, a homeless South African who had been arrested six times for loitering. “Police harassment is increasing,” he said. “They want to make a good impression for the foreigners coming. We are like insects to them – like flies.” Such harsh realities will eventually reflect back into the image of South Africa as a destination as the World Cup makeup wears off.

Long Street, Cape Town, teeming with people. Photo courtesy of Flickr/flowcomm

Further, a momentary spotlight does not necessarily translate into continuous tourism growth. Granted, this year’s World Cup in the Rainbow Nation promised to attract up to half a million visitors from all over the world, but this represents a wave and not necessarily a rising tide. The wave was smaller than expected. Again the numbers disagree here depending on the source, but border counts show that absolute tourist arrivals were around 200,000 – less than half the 450,000 that had been predicted.

Promise #3: “Green and Carbon Neutral!”

Another weak argument in favor of hosting a mega-event is that the environmental impacts can somehow be neutralized somehow. A ‘Feasibility study for a carbon neutral 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa‘ predicted that the event would generate 2.75 million tons of carbon dioxide, which could be offset at the cost of between US$5.4 million and US$9 million, and that by publicizing a carbon-offset program, awareness could be raised about climate change. Also, other ‘green’ measures would be taken, such as waterless urinals in the new stadium.

Biggest Footprint Yet

I’m about ready to make a sign and start ranting on the subway myself about this one. The carbon emissions from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were eight times higher than they were in Germany in 2006, without even including the emissions from international flights to the location.

Why such a difference? The main reasons cited are worse energy efficiency in South Africa and the geography of the location. South African cities are very far apart and the 64 matches were spread out between nine different cities. Also, South Africa is geographically remote from attendee places of origin. Long-haul flights into the country represented 67.4% of the emissions total. Perhaps carbon footprint is one thing FIFA should consider a little more carefully when awarding the bid.

Carbon emissions are a global problem, so researchers and reporters paid attention. But the skeptic can only wonder about the local environmental impacts of the mega-event on the host region of South Africa. What happens environmentally when an influx of sports spectators descend upon a place for a few weeks? They consume tons of water and power, then they generate tons of waste and sewage. Preparedness involves a little more than the new stadium’s waterless urinals.

Promise #4: “Fun and Patriotic!”

So, it turns out that the impacts of a mega-event on the overall economy, on tourism in particular and on the environment are debatable. But, reply the yay-sayers, at least one thing is certain. Hosting something like the World Cup can be a source of great national pride and unification for the host region’s residents.
People had fun and felt proud.

This skeptic agrees. Ever since humans have been playing sports, we have wanted to stage competitions at the broadest level and largest scale possible. To be chosen as the host of such a competition is indeed an honor and a reason to get excited.

As I saw that day in London, the winning of the 2012 Olympic bid created a collective buzz that the bearded nay-sayer and his sign couldn’t kill. In the case of this year’s World Cup, South African reporter Rian Malan says it best: “I found myself caught up in the primordial business of waving flags, stirring national anthems, and watching our beautiful stadiums glowing like jewels in the African darkness on my television … such things are almost invaluable.”

Cynthia Ord is from Denver, Colorado. She traces her travel addiction back to a semester abroad in Puebla, Mexico. Having recently completed a masters degree in Tourism and Environmental Economics in Mallorca, Spain, she is now doing a summer internship at Outdoor Albania in the Balkan region. For fun, she likes hiking, thrift store browsing, poi spinning and building adult-sized hula hoops.

The three winners have been announced and The Travel Word is honoured to present the top three essays. The following is the third-place finisher.

There’s something repugnant about carbon calculations. In an age of green enlightenment, it seems whatever recreational pursuit we might want to indulge in, we’re instantly informed of the carbon footprint that such a heinous activity leaves.

The angel on our shoulder has been replaced by a sandal-wearing environmental protestor, who whispers in our ear every time we decide it’s a chilly day and we’d rather drive to the local shop. The imp at our other ear somehow seems more sympathetic to the needs of modern life.

The Carbon Footprint

It was inevitable then that the then South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (along with the Norwegian Embassy) should release a report on the carbon footprint of the 2010 World Cup. The party-pooping assessment estimated a staggering 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions would be produced – a notable shortfall from the carbon neutrality aimed for by the event authorities. If the numbers mean nothing to you, the figure is allegedly roughly equivalent to the production of 20 cheeseburgers for every man, woman and child in the UK. I work this out as 1200 million burgers. See? Staggering.

The report’s conclusion, of course, should be taken with a generous serving of salt. However it’s also inevitable that, in practice, the report will have a minimal impact on the behaviour of the majority of World Cup supporters, who, while flying to Durban’s newly built King Shaka International Airport, will quite understandably wonder how their own personal holiday activity could possibly have an effect on the environment. Meanwhile, about 1200 million burger wrappers will float ominously around Cape Town’s Green Point stadium.

The Regional Effects

Prophecies of global-warming doom aside, it would be churlish not to consider the environmental impact that such an event could have on South Africa on a regional scale. When we picture the Rainbow Nation, all 1.27 million square kilometres of it, we envisage the natural: acres of burning savannah and Bushveld, a haven for charismatic predator and graceful prey, diverse cultures, modern-wonder-of-the-world Table Mountain, and penguins dipping and diving near the former prison cells of Robben Island. South Africa enjoys the third-highest level of biodiversity in the world, and generously, it has brought its wild side to tourists, courtesy of game drives, and adventure sports ranging from bird-watching to diving with sharks. It’s likely that with such abounding opportunities, many travellers this summer will at some point during their stay swap their vuvuzelas for their videophones.

However the country is also home to 2,000 plant species on the endangered list, not to mention about 20% of its mammals being under threat, including the black rhinoceros and African elephant – some impressive creatures that could do without the waste, pollution and, especially pertinent to the area, the unsustainable use of water associated with large influxes of people.

Packed World Cup stadium. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Jason Wojciechowski

For the well-informed visitor, ecotourism provides a pleasing balance of memorable experience and a clean conscience. This ‘responsible’ tourism ostensibly exists for visitors to enjoy pristine areas of natural beauty with a low environmental impact, and designs on providing education, funds for conservation and local empowerment. South Africa itself boasts a well-maintained network of protected areas and shrewd conservation practices. Yet scratch the surface of ecotourism, and the hidden costs are revealed: the displacement of local communities for the creation of parks, disputes over land use, the creation of amenities for the unwitting do-gooder and the channelling of money away from other long-term conservation strategies – and let’s not even go into the carbon produced from the often-lengthy journeys required to see such exotic locations. The little protestor on the shoulder is a-whispering again.

South African Wildlife Acclimation

It’s not just the economy that can suffer. The tooth-and-clawed natives are also affected by such an invasion of tourists. Just as footballers learn to acclimate to the audiences of thousands around them and grow begrudgingly accustomed to the snapping of the paparazzi, South Africa’s wildlife is all too much at risk of acclimating to their human spectators, with arguable potential for human/animal conflict and unpredictable change in animal behaviour brought about by disruption of feeding and nesting. In Kenya, it’s been noted that cheetahs have been driven off their reserves by tourists, increasing the risk of inbreeding and endangering the species even more than they are already. (They are listed as ‘vulnerable’ with a decreasing population on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.)

Does Ecotourism Ameliorate or Exacerbate Concerns?

Its intentions are honourable and it can increase environmental awareness; if wisely managed, it can still be one of the most conscientious ways of seeing animals in their natural habitats. But South Africa’s wildlife-encountering opportunities reveal a heart of far greater darkness. A tabloid newspaper recently revealed that a number of game lodges are aiming to tempt World Cup fans with packages allowing them to shoot animals in an activity known as ‘canned hunting,’ in which the animals – notably the big cats – are bred, released and pursued. At over £15,000 a pop, the sport is strictly for the wealthy (and opportunistic) and it’s a fair bet that the average footy fan wouldn’t miss a game to indulge.

With such a range of environmental threats to South Africa being increased this summer, it’s gratifying to see control measures being put in place. A partnership between the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme and the South African Department of Environmental Affairs has brought about an initiative comprising an array of projects seeking to minimise the event’s environmental impact. Across six of the nine host cities, the programme aims to reduce energy consumption through solar panels on public street lights, traffic lights and billboards, and is carrying out a ‘Green Passport’ programme, distributing a booklet containing information on responsible tourism to 100,000 spectators. At 32 pages each, it’s hard not to wince at the irony of 100,000 Green Passports being discarded by the roadside. The plans to allow visitors to be able to assess their own carbon footprints also have doubtful potential (‘Hey kids! Who’s game for some number-crunching fun?’), but then nobody ever claimed that environmental education was a speedy process.

Long Street in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Anne Froehlich

Nor is it a process that can be easily achieved on a large scale. The environment is closely linked with the economy, and often dependent on it, and it’s indubitable that the World Cup is sure to boost opportunities for guesthouse owners, restaurants, transport companies, local attractions and cultural activity. A healthy respect for a country’s environment can begin with a healthy respect for the country itself. If well managed, South Africa’s tourism can perform wonders for conservation and green living. Audits and assessments will encourage good practise, conscientious consumers can encourage the running of sustainable businesses and (in our wildest dreams) generated wealth could be invested back into promoting conservation measures and new environmental initiatives.

Tourism itself needn’t be a case of simply standing back to see a country with a pair of binoculars. South Africa has countless opportunities to actually participate in hands-on rural development initiatives, conservation expeditions and, perhaps most importantly, education. These are invaluable ways of redressing the environmental and sociological balance that can be knocked during holiday seasons.

The Environmental Consequences Remain Unwritten

South Africa stands canned and cornered like one of its magnificent lions, staring curiously down the barrel of a hunter’s rifle. Whether it’s shot or released remains to be seen, and the decision lies with not just the masses descending for the football but on its own people, government and the hordes of tourists that wish to see this stunning country in the future. With the enormous investment channelled into venues and amenities for the year’s big event, South Africa will have to work hard to continue to make use of its new and improved infrastructure, public transit systems and energy resources in the long term – even years after football fans have skipped or trudged their ways home.

And while British visitors perform an autopsy on Rooney’s performance and Capello’s curious methods, perhaps we should also use the consequences of mass tourism observed at the event as an example to study for the approaching London Olympics 2014. South Africa should at least provide us with some food for thought – and hopefully fewer than 1200 million cheeseburgers worth.

Rob Stringer is a writer and editor for Earthwatch, an international environmental and conservation charity. He enjoys adventures in the great outdoors.

The images are maps of cities around the world that show the location of all photos currently available in public Flickr and Picasa search APIs.

• Blue points on the map are pictures taken by locals (people who have taken pictures in this city dated over a range of a month or more).
• Red points are pictures taken by tourists (people who seem to be a local of a different city and who took pictures in this city for less than a month).
• Yellow points are pictures where it can’t be determined whether or not the photographer was a tourist (because they haven’t taken pictures anywhere for over a month). They are probably tourists but might just not post many pictures at all.

1 – London

2 – New York

Looks like it’s only tourists taking photos on the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island.

3 – San Francisco

Tourists love photographing the view on golden gate bridge and Alcatraz, locals not so much.

4 – Paris

Camera toting tourists in Paris far out number local photographers. A trip out to Versailles is popular.

5 – Tokyo

Well dispersed points of interest.

6 – Chicago

Wrigley Field is a tourist spot.

7 – Washington D.C.

Tourists love the Mall and the Tidal Basin and many make the trip out to The National Zoo, National Cathedral and Arlington National Cementery.

8 – Seattle

Tourists love the Museum of Flight, Seattle Waterfront, Belltown and Seattle Center.

9 – Taipei

10 – Toronto

This article was first published by our friends at Make Travel Fair, who have agreed to its republication here. View the original article on their blog.

Now imagine the effect of a major sporting event, like the World Cup, which is presently drawing thousands to South Africa. This is the question at the heart of a new annual travel writer competition launched by Make Travel Fair: The Backdoor (Write Your Way in).

The precise question asked by The Backdoor is:

“A major sporting event creates a large influx of tourism to the host destination. What are the implications and benefits of that influx of travellers to a destination like South Africa?”

Can you convey your thoughts in an original article of up to 1,500 words before 11pm GMT on 25 July 2010? Submit your entry here.

A Pen with Power

Make Travel Fair is looking for writers who understand the strength of words as part of the responsible tourism development process. They’re looking for aspiring travel writers with a yearning to explore and something sincere to say about tourism development?

The value of sharing your thoughts is, of course, part of the competition prize. “Our Backdoor travel writing competition gives all budding writers, particularly those with an interest in tourism development, the chance to ‘write your way in’ to a WHL Consulting internship with unique travel writing opportunities.

Part of the WHL Group, WHL Consulting is a professional services company with a singular focus on providing innovative, high-technology solutions to small businesses. WHL Consulting aims to improve the competitiveness and long-term sustainability of micro, small and medium-sized products.

The Prizes

As a powerful sweetener, in addition to the offers of an internship with WHL Consulting, the competition winner will receive a free seven-night stay in South Africa (valid for one year) at either the Seaforth Country Lodge in the beautiful Drakensberg region or the Chestnut Country Lodge in the Mpumalanga region just 30 minutes from Kruger National Park. Winners will also have their articles published on various websites, including Make Travel Fair and the WHL Group blog.

For more, please see the competition rules and submission guidelines, as well as the important terms and conditions.

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Aivar Ruukel (@ruukel and @soomaa_parnu) – the former whl.travel local connection in Pärnu and Soomaa National Park, Estonia

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Slavica Vukcevic (@slavicaMA) – the whl.travel local connection in Montenegro (Budva, Bay of Kotor and Podgorica & Central Montenegro)

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Guilherme Mendes Thomaz (@guimendesthomaz, @CURITIBAtravel and @ILHADOMELtravel) – the whl.travel local connection in Curitiba and Paranaguá & Ilha do Mel, Brazil

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Paula Ferreira (@WHLmadeira) – the whl.travel local connection and Urban Adventures partner in Madeira, Portugal

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Ng Sebastian (@basINCITO) – the whl.travel local connection in Komodo & Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia

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Lee Sheridan (@Lee_Sheridan) – the whl.travel local connection in Laos (Champasak, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Vang Vieng), Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Phuket and Sukhothai) and Cambodia (Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville)

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André Franchini (@andrefranchini) – the WHL Group’s Hotel Link Solutions

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Wallace Faria (@wallacefaria) – the WHL Group’s Central and South America Regional Office

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Stephen Chapman (@maketravelfair) – Make Travel Fair

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Luke Ford (@gunyahtravel) – Gunyah

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All of these #whltravel tweeps, plus those presented on Make Travel Fair as well as all the rest, can be found on the WHL Group Twitter list.

The internet is all about social these days, it has been for sometime, and as more of us become more active on the major social networking sites it’s becoming increasingly apparent that although our number of ‘friends’, ‘followers’ or ‘connections’ can be huge, the opportunities for us each to leverage the intelligence that’s locked away in the minds of our contacts are minimal.

Network Cables / Flickr photo by pascal.charest

The travel space is one area that everyone can contribute expertise to and there is no shortage of websites that play on this fact in an effort to increase the diffusion of local knowledge, and connect travellers to those who have answers to their questions. Tripbod and Travellr are often cited as two of our favorites.

Extensive Integration with the Big Networks Required

The ability to spread local knowledge through sites like these is still very much hindered by their isolation from the social circles that we create for ourselves online though. The early status update idea has transformed into micro-blogging that makes interacting online a quite seamless and open experience. The local travel movement (as championed by the likes of whl.travel, Spotted by Locals, Tripbod and Going Local) is begging for us to see knowledge sharing websites that integrate with the obscene amounts of global intelligence available through our extended social networks, and operate in a similar way.

Not Everyone Can Be a Social Networking Site

Travellr has started to open the door on connecting travel questions and answers with other networks. It is a fantastic site with a great look and feel but still relies on users inputting the standard social network information into a new profile on the Travellr site. Social networking has been cracked, and although a vast amount of startups have contributed to its innovation, it is a numbers game in which Facebook, Google, Twitter and LinkedIn hold the cards and can therefore cherry pick the best ideas.

A Huge Untapped Resource

Other sites that are looking beyond creating niche communities and providing a global service need to accept that users don’t want to build new networks all over the web, and they need to begin looking at how they can integrate with the major social networking players and leverage the information already shared, much of which is not being used in any intelligent way.

Google Purchases Question-and-Answer Site

The recent purchase of Aardvark by Google is an indicator that Google understands what needs to happen in this space, and the potential that exists. It will probably eventually release another new tool that will blow all of these smaller local travel knowledge enterprises out of the water in the same way that it has with Google Buzz. The addition of personalised social results to the Google search pages is a step in this direction. The ability of a company to innovate and execute an idea technologically these days limits their success amongst the giants, even if the idea is a good one.

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whl.travel and Make Travel Fair have agreed to share this content with the aim of educating, engaging and inspiring both communities. The original of the article can be found here.

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Past Experiences

It was a great event last year. In fact I travelled into London especially for this event and didn’t attend WTM. For me this may become increasingly what happens as this year even more small events like this are cropping up on the fringes of WTM. There was a great mix of people [at the Fringe RT Network event] last year and the atmosphere was relaxed and perfect for chatting over a few drinks.

It’s always great to have opportunities to connect in this sort of setting, particularly these days when we can spend so much time interacting online with people all around the world.

Stephen Chapman - Founder of Make Travel Fair

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Making Connections

I remember meeting Gerhard Buttner [an international development, sustainability and ecotourism expert] last year and talking at length with him. He’d recently arrived in the UK after doing a lot of work with Ron Mader of Planeta in Mexico. It was great to hear directly about some of the great work being done in Mexico. The Fringe event always serves as a great space to reconnect with a lot people I don’t see throughout the year but have known for a while.

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Looking Ahead

I think as always there will be lots of discussion about new initiatives happening. Hopefully there will be some new faces attending so that sharing experiences and finding new ways to work together dominate the evening. Any networking evening is a fantastic opportunity and if you’re in London, involved in the travel industry – particularly at the grassroots level – then you’d need a pretty good reason not to attend this event. It’s free! What better venue to hold an event like this than a central London bar… for the informal atmosphere as well as the real ales!

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Many thanks to Stephen for taking the time to answer my questions. If you’d like to meet Stephen or me and will be in London on Monday 9 November, be sure to drop by the Pavilion End Bar from 6:30pm onward.  Remember to register your interest in attending via the Fringe Network page on Ning or Facebook. You can follow me live via Twitter @whltravelBlog on the night. Keep an eye out for the #rtnet hashtag cropping up on multiple streams.

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Monday November 9 marks the beginning of the 2009 World Travel Market, one of the travel industry’s most important annual events. While many people from around the world will be descending throughout the week on London’s ExCeL centre to meet, greet and do business, an increasing number will also be making a beeline to the Fringe RT Network Event – 6:30pm to 11pm in the Pavilion End Bar, close to the heart of the city – to meet, engage and inspire.

The Fringe Responsible Travel Network Event @ WTM, pictured here from a previous year, is a chance to connect and reconnect with people passionate about responsible travel

Developed by a group of like-minded individuals keen to bring together people with a passion for locally focussed responsible tourism that protects and enhances destinations for the benefit of host communities as well as visitors, the Fringe Network event was first held in 2007. In the two years since, attendees have met regularly, both in person and online, to discuss the challenges they face, share their experiences and promote the progress being made by the sector as a whole.

“It becomes ever more important that grassroots organisations and initiatives around the world continue to exert their independence, innovate and come together to network,” observed Stephen Chapman, founder of Make Travel Fair after the 2008 event.

Keeping Good Company

For the third year in a row, the Fringe evening is organised by the team at Tripbod (active in past years as YourSafePlanet). This year, however, whl.travel is proud to be a media partner, along with Make Travel Fair and Social Tours. The event sponsors are Intrepid, Rough Guides, The Blue Yonder and Travel to Care.

Despite inclusion of a speed-networking event that follows the speed-dating model, the evening is expected to be as relaxed and informal as in past years, an ideal environment in which to make new connections and reconnect with old ones.

This is my first time attending a Fringe – or indeed any – event of this kind, so I’m excited to be bringing a fresh perspective to the proceedings. I’m also hoping to convey some of the enthusiasm and optimism expressed by attendees on the night and, in advance, will be delivering some insights from Fringe veterans about what to expect. On 9 November you can follow me live via Twitter @whltravelBlog or keep up with what are sure to be multiple streams through the #rtnet hashtag.

Of course, if you’re in London on 9 November, I’d highly recommend coming along to meet some friendly faces. Register your interest via the Fringe Network page on Ning or Facebook. Alternatively, stay tuned here for updates.

If there’s a particular topic you’d like to see discussed or would be interested in hearing about, drop me a line and I’ll do my best to make sure I cover it on the night. If you’d like to contact the organisers directly, begin at the Tripbod website.

Of the 300 nominations and after more than 15,000 votes, whl.travel was one of four finalists in the Responsible Travel category (see the whl.travel entry), and Make Travel Fair was to be judged along with three others in the Travel Blog category (see the MTF entry).

The finalists were those chosen by Travelmole subscribers, but the ultimate judgment fell to a panel of experts.

Other awards categories covered accommodation, airlines, car rental, cruise and ferry operators, holiday add-ons, hotel groups, mobile technology, recruitment and training, tourist boards, tour operators, travel agents, travel videos and Web 2.0.

Seated around the virtual table were:

MODERATORS
* Sally Broom, CEO of Your Safe Planet & Fringe Network
* Stephen Chapman, Founder of Make Travel Fair

SPEAKERS
* Tom Hall, Travel Editor at Lonely Planet Publications
* Dan Linstead, Editor of Wanderlust magazine
* Alan Murphy, Commissioning Editor and Publisher, Footprint Travel Guides
* Adrian Phillips, Publishing Director at Bradt Travel Guides.

Biographical material about the moderators and speakers can be found below.

During the 60-minute session, Tom Hall and Adrian Phillips made brief presentations about what is (and is not) being done to give readers what they need to travel as responsibly as possible. A question-and-answer period followed, and included the participation of Toby Sawday from Sawday Publishing.

For details, consult:

* a written account of all that was said by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet
* a written account all that was said by Adrian Phillips of Bradt Travel Guides
* written questions and answers compiled from the webinar chat room
* the full recording of the webinar with voice conflicts that were not present during the live session
* the full chat transcript

More Information

This responsible tourism webinar series, hosted by whl.travel, was launched on 4 June with a discussion of some of the thoughts and ideas propounded during Responsible Tourism Week 2009 – an online discussion held the week of 18-22 May that focussed on responsible tourism around the world. The primary objective of the webinar series is to demonstrate the universal appeal of responsible tourism to a broad range of constituencies in all sectors.

To listen to the proceedings of the completed 4 June webinar, check out the full recording, chat transcript and written summary, as well as additional commentary.

For more information, contact:
* Shaun Gilchrist, Chief Operations Officer, whl.travel, +61 431 020 173; shaun@whl.travel
* Ethan Gelber, Media Liaison, whl.travel, ethan@whl.travel

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MODERATORS

SALLY BROOM – CEO, Your Safe Planet & Fringe Network
Sally Broom is founder of the unique travel website YourSafePlanet.com, the global network of trusted local experts. YSP connects travellers with experts at the grassroots who advise on trip planning using their up-to-date local knowledge. The goal of YSP is support slower and more rewarding travel.

‘Fringe’ network was a name given by media to a group of grassroots tourism organisations and individuals who feel that there is an opportunity to collaborate with more people on the important issues around local tourism, sustainable travel etc. What started as nothing more than a few drinks between friends around WTM has developed into a global network of hundreds of members. Their simple aims are to bring attention and energy to grassroots projects and, through collaboration, facilitate more local/sustainable travel.

STEPHEN CHAPMAN – Founder, Make Travel Fair
Stephen Chapman has travelled extensively and spent time living in both Australia and USA. After graduating from Edinburgh University in 2005 he spent a short period working offshore as a geologist in the oil & gas industry before changing direction completely to follow his passion for travel and established Make Travel Fair. The website won a TravelMole Web Award in its first year for ‘Best Online Education Site’, and more recently he was selected as ‘One-to-Watch’ in Travel & Leisure as part of The Courvoisier Future 500. This year he began working as part of the whl.travel team.

SPEAKERS

TOM HALL – Travel Editor, Lonely Planet Publications
Tom Hall is a travel journalist based at Lonely Planet’s London office. He is the writer of the weekly Ask Tom feature in the Observer newspaper and appears regularly on radio and television. While Tom’s favourite destinations are all in Africa, he’s always banging on about how great holidaying in Britain is.

DAN LINSTEAD – Editor, Wanderlust magazine
Cambridge graduate Dan Linstead joined John Brown Publishing in 2000 as the editor of Orange’s pioneering lifestyle magazine, O. In five years of customer publishing, he wrote, edited and commissioned a range of travel, celebrity and general lifestyle features for companies including Waitrose, the AA, Honda and Ikea – and won a British Society of Magazine Editors award for O magazine. In 2005, he relaunched and edited bmi’s inflight magazine, Voyager, for Redwood Publishing. In 2006, he was appointed editor of Wanderlust, the UK’s leading magazine for adventurous travellers.

ALAN MURPHY – Commissioning Editor and Publisher, Footprint Travel Guides
Following a stint as a copy editor and writer for the Bolivian Times, Alan Murphy began his Footprint career as an updater for the legendary South American Handbook, before being commissioned to research and write their new guidebooks to Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. He then returned to his native Scotland to write new guides to Scotland, Highlands & Islands, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Now, though, poacher has turned gamekeeper and Alan is commissioning editor and publisher for Footprint Handbooks.

ADRIAN PHILLIPS – Publishing Director, Bradt Travel Guides
Adrian Phillips has written several guidebooks – including Hungary: The Bradt Travel Guide, which won Best Guidebook of the Year in 2006 – and contributes regular travel articles to national newspapers and magazines. He is one of the judges of the Bradt/Independent on Sunday Travel-Writing Competition and a tutor on the panel at Bradt’s annual travel-writing seminar.

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Zainald grills his halal satay in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. Photo © Stephen Chapman

Most people are familiar with a Chinatown, often the location of cheap eats and sleeps and hives of activity day and night. I recently returned to Kuala Lumpur (capital city of Malaysia) and was granted a fascinating perspective from the point of view of a Malay and it emphasised something extremely important.

Whether it’s based on a desire to rough it and to get under the skin of a place, or on Chinatown being known as a backpacker hangout, many travellers gravitate there. When you use Chinatown as a base from which to explore, particularly in Asia, there is a tendency to believe that it is in some way representative of the culture and character of the city within which it’s based, and for Kuala Lumpur and many other cities around the world this is far from the truth. It is no more representative of a city in Asia than it is of San Francisco, New York or London. There is no denying its value and influence, particularly on Kuala Lumpur, but it is only a small piece of the cultural jigsaw that makes up a city.

Why Stay in Chinatown?

Most Malaysians are of Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and/or Malay descent and, like so many ethnically diverse communities around the world, they haven’t always integrated particularly well with one another. Malaysia’s fascinating cultural mix is a truly unique blend that has influenced food, architecture, arts and religion significantly, but there is definitely a Malaysian identity that prefers to distinguish itself from these influences as being truly Malay – not Indian, not Chinese.

Chinatown is subsequently never the best first impression for a new visitor. Often regarded as dirty, unpleasant, unhygienic and undesirable, Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur is never on the list of a Malay person’s places to go, let alone somewhere to sleep and eat. “Why stay in such a hole when there are some incredible, clean, well-run low-cost places in far more seductive parts of the city?” I was told, and I must say that I have to agree, not that there aren’t some decent places to stay in Chinatown.

Do We Engineer Our Experiences to Fit Our Expectations?

I first arrived in Southeast Asia almost 10 years ago. I was fresh-faced, lacked any real experience of eastern culture, couldn’t understand why there was a hose next to the toilet, or why anyone would eat curry for breakfast. Although landing in Kuala Lumpur wasn’t quite the baptism of fire that Bangkok can provide, it was strange, exciting, energising. I’d heard so many exotic stories that conspired to formulate my expectation and sense of adventure. The dirty, small alleyways of Chinatown satisfied my fantasy, but this was not an introduction to Kuala Lumpur or Malaysia. This was a Chinatown.

On my first night I stayed in a small guesthouse above a restaurant, wandered through the night market, ate some street food, woke up to a strange breakfast of nasi lemak. I loved Asia, I loved Chinatown. I explored other parts of the city and marvelled at how developed it was. In Chinatown things were cheap, colourful, busy, intriguing, more stimulating than the huge modern, familiar shopping malls. For a traveller it’s character and culture we yearn for. We want to see something different. However, allowing our desires and expectations to overtake reality is foolish and unfair. Kuala Lumpur is an incredibly modern city and it’s important to take home that message too.

With increased maturity, greater world experience, better knowledge of the city and a very local insight into the country I now realise that my first impression was incomplete, to say the least. It probably served more to satisfy my own expectations than provide me with a true insight into how people live in Malaysia. I think this is what the whole concept of ‘Going Local’ is based around – understanding a place for what it is, not what you want it to be or expect it to be.

Cultural Integration

As you become more conscious of cultural enclaves in cities around the world – Chinatown, Little India, Little Italy – it becomes fascinating to see how people can cling so rigidly to the culture they’ve grown up in. This cultural mixing takes place all over the world as people migrate and make demands on their new home to recognise the heritage they left behind. But do different cultures and communities ever fully integrate and accept each other, or do they always remain like foreign bodies within a host?

Some of the best satay I’ve ever eaten is made by a Malay man called Zainald in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. He’s been trading for years and is about the only Malay vendor in the area. There is indeed hope that not everyone is divided and that we can all live together successfully.

whl.travel and Make Travel Fair have agreed to share this content with the aim of educating, engaging and inspiring both communities. This is an abridged version of the article found in full here.

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On Thursday 4 June, four leading global advocates of responsible tourism spoke and listened at a free public webinar (Web-based seminar) about the present and future of their fast-expanding industry. It was the first in a series of regular online gatherings that will tackle the crosscutting issues and universal appeal of responsible tourism as it applies to a broad range of constituencies in all sectors. Beginning at the next session, local advocates and practitioners of travel and tourism who share a belief in a responsible way forward will be invited to share their thoughts and respond to listener questions.

Cosponsored by Your Safe Planet, Make Travel Fair and whl.travel, with the vital participation of Planeta, the webinar series was initiated to capture and add energy to the momentum from Responsible Tourism Week 2009 – an online discussion launched by Planeta and held the week of May 18-22 that focussed on responsible tourism around the world.

Featured Speakers

At this first webinar, Ron Mader, Founder of Planeta, dicussed how social media can engage the global community in responsible tourism, especially communications tools like Twitter.

Len Cordiner, CEO of whl.travel, looked at how we should to change our approach to responsible tourism. He voiced particular concern that responsible tourism is basically the industry talking to itself, that that main stakeholders – people like travellers and even accommodation/tour providers themselves – have been left out of the equation.

Valere Tjolle, Editor of VISON on Sustainable Tourism examined what else should change, in particular the need to have a political background to tourism and the sustainability agenda. “It’s not about telling travellers how good we are,” he said, “it’s about telling travellers what we can do for them and I think that’s where we’ve missed a trick sometimes in responsible tourism.”

Lessons Learned

All in all, as identified by Mader, “One of the common threads in the discussion was the disconnect between top-down and bottom-up strategies. … This type of silo thinking is a primary obstacle for engaging the travellers and locals. My question – are there ways to connect the dots, bring the ‘experts’ and the ‘clients’ together? … Most donors, academics, officials don’t want to participate in public events. Reflecting on this, it seems to be a matter of control. The experts don’t want to give it up! But if we manage to view responsible tourism in a more holistic manner, then giving up control generates strength. It’s a matter of looking at one another at team players, not as competitors.”

Stephen Chapman, Founder of Make Travel Fair, agreed: “The desire to retain control of a movement and knowledge is a real inhibitor to any sort of progress. This is why diverse groups coming together through these webinars, beginning to exchange ideas and thinking is so crucial.”

Next Session

Doing just what it should – using new media to reach out to new stakeholders and new markets – the webinar series next brings together speakers from Wanderlust magazine, Lonely Planet and Bradt Guides to discuss responsible tourism in publishing. Scheduled for 18 June at 1pm GMT, please register to join us at the next session.

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To listen to and share the proceedings of the completed webinar, a full recording, a chat transcript and written summary are all available online.

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After your listen, please share with us:

•    your thoughts (constructive and deconstructuve)

•    the topics/themes you would like us to address in coming sessions

•    the names and/or qualifications of guest presenters you would like us to invite to coming sessions.

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The hosting sextet began discussing and illustrating some of the thoughts and ideas propounded during Responsible Tourism Week 2009 – an online discussion held the week of May 18-22 that focussed on responsible tourism around the world. Using examples pulled from their extensive store of experiences or promoted through their organisations, the speakers’ primary objective was to demonstrate the universal appeal of responsible tourism to a broad range of constituencies in all sectors.

If you wish to listen to and then share the proceedings of this completed webinar, a full recording, a chat transcript and written summary are all available online.

After your listen, please share with us:

• your thoughts (constructive and deconstructuve) about this first webinar
• the topics/themes you would like us to address in coming sessions
• the names and/or kinds of qualifications of guest presenters you would like us to invite to coming sessions.

We hope to see you at our next webinar: 1pm GMT on 18 June. Mark it in your calendars and share the news with others.

The six featured presenters on 4 June were:

HOSTS
* Sally Broom, CEO of Your Safe Planet & Fringe Network
* Stephen Chapman, Founder of Make Travel Fair

SPEAKERS
* Len Cordiner, CEO of whl.travel
* Ron Mader, Founder of Planeta
* Kenrick Theus, Director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism-Belize
* Valere Tjolle, Editor of Vision on Sustainable Tourism for TravelMole.

Brief biographies of the speakers can be found below.

For more information, contact:
* Shaun Gilchrist, Chief Operations Officer, whl.travel, +61 431 020 173; shaun@whl.travel
* Ethan Gelber, Media Liaison, whl.travel, ethan@whl.travel

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SALLY BROOM – CEO, Your Safe Planet & Fringe Network
Sally Broom is founder of the unique travel website YourSafePlanet.com, the global network of trusted local experts. YSP connects travellers with experts at the grassroots who advise on trip planning using their up-to-date local knowledge. The goal of YSP is support slower and more rewarding travel.

‘Fringe’ network was a name given by media to a group of grassroots tourism organisations and individuals who feel that there is an opportunity to collaborate with more people on the important issues around local tourism, sustainable travel etc. What started as nothing more than a few drinks between friends around WTM has developed into a global network of hundreds of members. Their simple aims are to bring attention and energy to grassroots projects and, through collaboration, facilitate more local/sustainable travel.

STEPHEN CHAPMAN – Founder, Make Travel Fair
Stephen Chapman has travelled extensively and spent time living in both Australia and USA. After graduating from Edinburgh University in 2005 he spent a short period working offshore as a geologist in the oil & gas industry before changing direction completely to follow his passion for travel and established Make Travel Fair. The website won a TravelMole Web Award in its first year for ‘Best Online Education Site’, and more recently he was selected as ‘One-to-Watch’ in Travel & Leisure as part of The Courvoisier Future 500. This year he began working as part of the whl.travel team.

LEN CORDINER – CEO of whl.travel
In incubating and running numerous companies over 35 years in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Oceania, Len Cordiner has developed a passion for win-win outcomes. He was active early in the move to triple-bottom-line reporting and the development of certification programmes for the environment and sustainable travel. More recently, he has made harnessing the power of the Internet and new communications tools central to his mission to change paradigms in travel, making it more accessible to all. In this vein, founding whl.travel is Len’s latest and most ambitious global business initiative.

whl.travel is a global grassroots network of travel websites catering to independent travelers journeying off the beaten track and tired of the limited travel options offered by most online service providers. whl.travel emphasises responsible travel and keeping things local by focusing on smaller hotels, guesthouses and tour operators, particularly, but not exclusively, in developing countries where it can really make a difference. As of late May, whl.travel spans 170 destinations in 76 countries, with further expansion into more than 100 destinations (including 23 new countries) in the next six months.

RON MADER – Founder, Planeta
Ron Mader is a professional journalist and the founder of Planeta.com, the web’s first site dedicated to ecotourism. Ron’s work catalyzes action and conservation about environmental conservation, responsible travel and peacemaking. Ron’s work includes facilitating online and natural-world seminars and workshops, the most popular of which is the Web Seminar that shows professionals how to make effective use of Planeta.com and improve their own web presence.

Planeta.com has won many awards, including recognition from the Mexican government for exemplary coverage of Mexico. Presidents Fox and Zedillo presented Ron with the Lente de Plata Award in 1999 and 2002. Outside magazine called Planeta.com, the virtual vanguard. Ron is also the ecotourism and Latin America contributing editor for the U.S. magazine Transitions Abroad.

KENRICK THEUS – Director, International Centre for Responsible Tourism-Belize
Kenrick Theus, a native of Belize, has worked in the hospitality industry for the past 18 years as an operations manager, chef, food and beverage manager, general manager and trainer. He is presently employed as the Food and Beverage Management Lecturer at the University of Belize for the Bachelor Degree Students. In April 2008, he joined Mr. Yashin Dujon, Technical Officer in the Ministry of Tourism in Belize, and started the International Centre for Responsible Tourism-Belize (ICRT-Belize). They are both presently working at getting International certification bodies for hotels into the country such as Green Globe and Green Deal by the end of 2009. Mr. Theus has been President of the Belize Hotel Association since 2007 and currently serves as a Director on the   Board of Directors of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.

VALERE TJOLLE – Editor, Vision on Sustainable Tourism, TravelMole
TravelMole is the most highly acclaimed and largest global online community for the travel and tourism industry with over 450,000 registered newswire subscribers – travel and tourism professionals worldwide.

“I think you will be seeing a lot more of whl.travel in the media over the coming months,” said Len Cordiner, CEO of whl.travel. Boy is he right.

Building Community
One area in which whl.travel has been active is building a sense of community with other websites with which we share common strengths, especially the increasingly popular approach of working directly with locals.

Screen shot of the Make Travel Fair website

These sites include Make Travel Fair (see more here and below), Your Safe Planet, Tourdust (see more below), Mindfultourist (see more here), Leap Local, Tribewanted, Go Philanthropic and more.

Through these new partners, whl.travel has been reaching new ears. For example, in early April, the founder of Tourdust included a nice mention of whl.travel in the Guardian (a British newspaper).

Similarly, Stephen Chapman, the editor of Make Travel Fair and also a whl.travel collaborator, posted a very positive article about whl.travel based on his experience so far.

Screen shot of Armenian news site with picture of Zachary Rozga speaking at USAID CAPS conference

Sharing Expertise
Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting and former Executive Director of whl.travel’s Africa regional office, presented at a workshop of the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) project. The event brought together representatives from the Armenian tourism and information technology sectors. Mr Rozga travelled to Yerevan, Armenia, as the CAPS international expert in IT solutions for the tourism sector. He was the main speaker of the “IT Solutions for Tourism Industry” discussion.

“With IT having a growing impact on the way global travel is managed, operated and promoted, and with global tourism arrival numbers expected to decline in 2009 due to the financial crisis, the need to be technologically advanced to improve cost-effectiveness and productivity is as important as ever,” he said.

If you read Armenian, check out more at here and here.

Media Hits
Both the whl.travel team and its local marketplace operators have been working to bring to light some of the good work in which they are involved. Media is beginning to take notice and share the news with a growing base of interested users. Below are two examples.

* Lee Sheridan of Teamworkz, MPO from Laos and Thailand, was recently interviewed on Radio Australia about his expanding whl.travel presence in Laos. Download the podcast for Program Part 1 of the 03/04/2009 show. Around 19 minutes into the program is where Lee talks.

* Nepal’s Himalayan Times ran news of the recent launch of whl.travel’s Kathmandu website, the first of two planned travel portals in that country.