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OPINION: The Travel 3.0 Era

As I look at the evolution of travel, we are at the leading edge of what I would call Travel 3.0. Travel 1.0 was about the travel professionals and travel experts telling us about the great things to see and do.

The Power of Place: Sustaining the Future of Destinations

I was reading an article in the Historical Houses Trust magazine in Sydney this month about the fabulous network of trams which operated in Sydney until 1961. It is reported that in its day the Sydney tram network was the largest in the Commonwealth outside of London, and was much loved by Sydney commuters. However progress (represented by a strong lobby of the auto industry) took its toll and in the late 1950s the tram network was scrapped despite a large demonstration by the public at the time to save the trams.

Sound familiar? Around the same time some of Sydney’s most treasured buildings were up for demolition in The Rocks area, as well as the Queen Victoria Building. Fortunately strong union action at the time saved them (thank God).

Much of course is destroyed with no protest at all as we ‘progress and grow’. It’s often only when we look back that we lament that which has passed and which our children and their children will never know, or wonder at, or share. In fact in the past 100 years, during which time the world’s population has more than quadrupled, we have ‘consumed’ more of nature’s bounty than all of our predecessors had in all of history, and the destruction of the natural environment, local cultures and heritage sites continues apace. Frankly it is scary. I feel like we’re hurtling toward a brick wall at 100 km/hr with no brakes.

With this backdrop the team at whl.travel has partnered up with the National Geographic Centre for Sustainable Destinations and Ashoka to support the 2009 Geotourism Challenge.

We are trying to indentify organisations doing great things to retain the “Power of Place” – sustaining the future of destinations for future generations. This is not just to celebrate the innovation and commitment of the people and organisations involved but most importantly to provide a window on ways we can all play a role to save what is left.

So please, join in. Put forward any initiatives out there you have seen which you think we all need to know about.

WHL: Making Travel A Little Fairer By Design

The WHL mission is to support sustainable tourism and suppliers at the bottom of the pyramid. The company resulted from a pilot project financed by the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) to assist small and medium enterprise (SME) accommodation providers in the Mekong region with marketing their products online. Whilst accommodation providers in the 3 star plus category were able to access generic data service (GDS) networks and other web based distribution sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Wotif, etc. many smaller accommodation providers were unable to. The reasons were varied but included:

• A lack of computer facilities
• Poor English language skills
• Infrastructure issues
• Poor business and Internet skills
• No knowledge of online distribution options etc.

To overcome these problems – bridging the last mile – required us to work with a local representative in the destination, someone with both travel expertise and Internet access. These local representatives (WHL calls them MPOs – Marketplace Operators) own and operate the booking business.

Local Representatives (MPOs)

The MPOs do all those things best (and cheapest) done locally:

• Contract all the local suppliers (accommodation, tours, activities).
• Load and maintain content in the WHL database (supported by a team of WHL copy editors and trainers using Skype for online training).
• Process the bookings.

The MPOs can select various online payment options like using their own online merchant account facilities where they have them, or using the one supplied by WHL. They can also set their own payment terms and commissions. The system is designed so that they can run their entire business from the platform. They are also provided with a global benchmarking facility to monitor their performance against other MPOs in the WHL network.

Global framework

WHL, for its part does those things best and cheapest done globally.

• The technology platform
• The web and other global marketing
• A global payment gateway
• Hosting
• Management support
• Professional copy editor support

The result is something of a first for the online travel booking industry and brings with it real benefits for communities normally out of reach of the web. For example in destinations like the Solomon Islands communication with small accommodation providers on the outer islands is by HF radio. In other destinations it could be by telephone, or even bicycle. This allows travellers to book products previously inaccessible online. For the local communities it is important as it allows them to generate income to keep young people employed locally instead of drifting to larger urban areas.

Helping reduce leakage by keeping more travel dollars in the country

1. Most smaller accommodation providers source everything (food, furniture, etc.) locally unlike many larger accommodation providers who import a lot. By helping to build business for the little guys more money is retained in the destination.
2. Around 80% of WHL booking commissions are retained by the MPOs in-country, the balance being for WHL fees. Other global booking sites and travel agents in the supply countries take 100% of the booking commissions (which can be very high – up to 20-40%) off-shore.
3. Finally, WHL itself has set up most of its operational teams in emerging economies – the technology team in Vietnam, the copy writing team in India. This not only keeps costs low on the WHL side (allowing us to keep fees to MPOs low) but it also allows us to get more tourism dollars back into the developing world.

After proving the model in the Mekong, WHL became a private company in March 2006 and for the past two and a half years has continued to build the network, the product and the underlying technology. As of November 2008 we had some 230 destination sites signed up with MPOs in over 80 countries, of which over 200 should be live by the end of March 2009. This represents around 6500 accommodation providers and over 1000 tours and activities. You can follow the development of our network on our sales platform. The MPOs are nearly all local inbound tour operators with a passion for their destination, helping the little guys and have a focus on encouraging sustainable tourism.

We have had a rather low profile till now as we needed to build the network and the systems to a point where we could plug into global distribution channels…however in 2009 you should start seeing a lot more of us. Obviously we are looking to independent travellers with an interest in travelling off the beaten track and supporting local communities to become our core demographic.