The Local Travel Movement Launches
Local Travel sets its sights on becoming a key trend in 2010
April 7, 2010 – In mid-March, the Local Travel Movement trumpeted a
call to people and organisations with a passion for local travel and
commitment to local travel values. The promising early reverberations
of this new, international, free-to-join movement have already
inspired more than 40 organisations to join a growing list of partners
at www.LocalTravelMovement.com.
The Local Travel Movement was initiated by a core coalition of people
from companies that believe Local Travel is greater than the sum of
its parts. The Local Travel Movement is now already a rallying point
through which, by working together, Local Travel companies can help
give locals a real voice, engage travellers and develop a stronger
ethical dialogue within the travel industry.
Given the diversity of partner companies, the Local Travel Movement is
not overly descriptive. Rather than define ‘local travel,’ the Local
Travel Movement simply places value on an approach to travel that is
mindful of local people, the local environment, local culture and the
local economy. It proposes four easy steps to becoming a local
traveller:
• connecting with local people before, during and after a trip
• travelling in a manner that is sensitive to the local environment
• respecting local heritage and culture
• spending money locally.
While these actions may seem self-evident, the Local Travel Movement
prioritises this conscious and conscientious shift in attention to the
direct connection between visitor and local host. For travellers it's
a chance to get under a place's skin (and let it under theirs), while
also making the most of their travel time and saving money by spending
locally. For host communities, it is vital for enforcing the
beneficial qualities of tourism, maximising a general awareness of the
local culture and minimising 'leakage' from the local economy.
The partners of the Local Travel Movement believe now is the time to
embrace, develop, promote and establish Local Travel as the
responsible way forward in tourism.
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For more information and interviews, please contact:
Ethan Gelber, WHL Group (www.whl-group.com), [email protected]
Bart van Poll, Spotted by Locals (www.spottedbylocals.com),
[email protected]
