Screenshot of the Bahamas page on Gunyah.com, the website shortlisted by the Caribbean Web Awards 2012

An Award for Quality Websites

Unlike most travel awards, the Caribbean Web Awards 2012 focused on the websites that represent the travel companies, not on the travel companies themselves. As stated on the Caribbean Web Awards 2012 website, special attention was given to best practices in online marketing with an eye toward recognizing websites with excellent graphic communication, superb online copy and salesmanship, and laudable examples of strategies and techniques for enhanced site conversion.

Through its recently launched online presence, designed with all of this in mind, Gunyah dishes up memorable short-break package holidays and vacations managed by a dedicated network of passionate people all around the world. With locals in every destination and a clear responsible travel vision, Gunyah is more in tune with what makes a truly authentic local travel experience.

“We wanted to convey the authenticity and inspiration of our short breaks from the moment users started researching their trips, something that combined the spontaneity of independent travel with the comfort of a package holiday,” commented Luke Ford, CEO of Gunyah, about the unique look and feel of Gunyah.com. “The experience begins from the moment they start corresponding with our local operators. We wanted the navigation functionality to be simple and so it’s search by destination, but we also wanted to include a search by experiences for those looking for, for example, diving or a cultural break. We were thrilled to have been shortlisted.”

A screenshot of one of the packages available in the Bahamas on the Gunyah.com website

A Work in Progress

At the present time, Gunyah lists 170 short-break package holidays in 46 countries with an additional 600 contracted or under construction. Gunyah is working with 83 local partners in a total of 78 countries, including developed markets in North America, Europe and Australia, and emerging-market economies across Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere.

The short breaks – all of which consist of carefully selected accommodation, tours and activities – average four to six days in duration, but can also extend to 12 days. Regardless of length, Gunyah’s goal is to evoke an authentic experience through each package by connecting travelers to the people, communities, food and culture of each destination.

“We are only at the early stages with product development in the Caribbean, but this attention from the Caribbean Web Awards provides us with even more motivation to include more fascinating destinations in the region,” added Ford. “We have some amazing experiences in San Salvador, Bahamas, with diving, fishing, nature and eco walks, history and adventure, something for everyone! Our local partners in the Bahamas deserve credit for all of their hard work developing such unique experiences.”

The kind of idyllic setting found on of the many islands that make up the Bahamas

The Winning Announcement

The TravelMole Caribbean Web Award winners were announced on the eve of the Caribbean Marketplace held in Nassau, Paradise Island, Bahamas. In their second year, the awards were run by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association in association with TravelMole, one of the largest online travel trade communities in the world, and LeadGenerators, the UK’s specialist online marketing agency for the travel industry.

The awards were presented by TravelMole’s Graham McKenzie, who praised the shortlisted websites but called for a stronger focus on online marketing within the Caribbean: “With the obvious exception of the shortlisted sites, the general standard of nominations were very poor and for the benefit of all really needs to improve. The importance of a good online presence for all tourism businesses cannot be overstated and at this time many do not make the most of the opportunities presented.”

This African Gospel Church - a structure like many in the townships - is in the Langa Township in the Flats outside Cape Town

So what are you to do? Are there reasonably priced accommodation options anywhere in South Africa? How can one find exciting and responsible travel options beyond the pomp of a month of games? And, as we’ve written about already, is there any way of ensuring that some of the money spent will be fairly distributed, so that the inflated profits benefit as wide a cross-section of people as possible, not just the already rich and powerful?

Opportunism and Exploitation

We’ve seen a growing number of articles decrying the avarice of accommodation owners in South Africa as they set special room rates to laughably outrageous levels. “Research this week on Hotels.com UK website showed that the four-star, centrally located Cape Town Lodge Hotel, which from May 28 to June 5 charges £68 per room per night, is raising its rate on June 11, when the tournament gets under way, to £395,” reported Travelmole in mid-December 2009. “Hotel rates always rise during big sporting events: during the Olympic Games in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000) they were three times the usual level. But the increases in South Africa almost match those made during the Beijing Olympics, when hoteliers were accused of exploitation.”

The lion is one of the Big Five found in Kruger National Park, the country’s largest game reserve and a superb place for a safari (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

“The World Cup has brought out the worst in some sectors of the tourism industry both in South Africa and abroad, but it seems that this is a phenomenon that follows every big event of this sort,” added Martin Hatchuel, the South African travel writer who publishes www.thistourismweek.co.za. “I have had quite a bit of contact with people in Australia who tell me that Sydney suffered a decline in tourism in the three years following its Olympics – and the reason most people seemed to have for avoiding the city as a destination was ‘greed.’ So South Africa is not alone.”

Given the price gouging and apparent absence of reasonable oversight, one real fear is that not only will little of any profits actually reach the local level, but that any backlash suffered as a result of unfair market practices will hurt locals the most.

Finding a Fair Room

One way of helping to make a small difference – and help redress some of the possible imbalances – is to book accommodation and tours with locally run, small-scale lodges and tour operators, especially those committed to bringing opportunity to the townships. This is not only in keeping with FIFA’s social development policy of providing support to community-based organisations, it also provides alternative lodging options in World Cup host cities where exploitative pricing is now evident.

In fact, continued Hatchuel, “It seems to me that the people who are being most sensible about this World Cup are those who own the smaller accommodation establishments and other small tourism businesses.”

To help the price-daunted World Cup fan, below is a list of off-the-beaten-track lodging options on offer through whl.travel, in some cases the only online booking service available for these properties. While other hotels are charging outlandish rates, these B&Bs promise not to bamboozle their customers. Their rates will be higher than usual, but still most definitely a bargain, especially considering the unbeatable cultural experience of life in a South African township (especially during the World Cup) and the assurance that the money spent is actually reaching the people.

Cape Town

• Kopanong
• Liziwe’s Guest House
• Majoro’s B&B
• Malebo’s Bed and Breakfast
• Ma Neo’s
• Ndibovayo Bed and Breakfast
• Radebe’s B&B
• Vicky’s Bed and Breakfast

Mossel Bay (on the Garden Route, midway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth)

• Polani’s Xhosa Homestay
• Yonwaba Sesotho Homestay

Meeting the People

Whether or not alternative accommodation is key, meeting the people and experiencing the country should be. In a previous blog post, we’ve already proposed community or nature tours and activities in or near the World Cup host cities. What follows is a more targeted list to help zero in.

Traditional Xhosa dancers in South Africa perform for guests at a Mossel Bay township's first non-alcoholic shabeen and day-care centre

Cape Town
whl.travel offers access to a variety of community-based cultural and volunteer experiences, including:

• half-day, full-day and three-day township tours, and
• extended (28-day) volunteer adventures involving cheetahs, lions, monkeys, surfing and outreach to children.

Nelspruit
Nelspruit is quite close to Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route, as well as within several hour’s drive of the Mpumalanga Highlands.

All three are superb destinations with a broad offering of nature-oriented and outdoor activities, like river rafting, geckoiing, mountain biking, zip-line flying, rock abseiling, mountain boarding and following an aerial cable trail over a forest.

Animal enthusiasts will find satisfaction in visits to the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre for abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife or to an elephant sanctuary.

Geckoiing is the use of a small raft steered using webbed gloves. It is one of the best ways to have fun with family and friends.

Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route
In Port Elizabeth, both a Shebeen Tour and a Real City Tour bring travellers to the heart of township life, while the Addo Tour spends a day at the famous Addo Elephant National Park.

Further west, along the Garden Route, a Meet the People Tour out of Mossel Bay is an absolute must, although a coastal cliff hike, game drive in Fynbos or horseback ride through a private game preserve are also a treat.

The Day After It’s Over

Not long after Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, declared “This World Cup belongs to Africa!” on the day of the World Cup 2010 draw, Nelson Mandela, appearing via video link, closed a short speech by saying that “The people of Africa have learned the lessons of patience and endurance in their long struggle for freedom. May the reward brought by the World Cup prove that the long wait for its arrival on African soil has been worth it.”

It’s time to wonder if the reward, so promising in principle, is still out of reach in practice because of misguided expectations about who is coming to the World Cup, how much they can afford and how widely they will travel after it’s all over.

“I think that the organisers of the World Cup and the tourism authorities in South Africa have missed – or failed to communicate – one important piece of intelligence: the demographics of the average soccer traveller,” said Hatchuel. “I have a suspicion that most of them will be males in the 24-32 year bracket, and if that’s the case, I expect they’ll be sticking to the host cities, and looking for the parties rather than travelling round the country.”

If that does turn out to be true, then it’s even more important that the mindful minority shows genuine interest in more than just sport and partying, both during the World Cup and after it’s over. South Africa can’t afford to suffer as Sydney did for its greed.

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.

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.