Once again the Fringe Networking event will be taking place in the shadows of WTM. This year it is being held at the Pavillion End Bar on the Monday evening.  As always this event is sure to be a highlight of the week and anyone who’s in London and involved at the grass roots of travel should definitely try and make it along.

In an age where we communicate online so easily and freely it is always a delight to connect with each other in the real world.  The informal atmosphere of a central London bar has proved to be a popular setting for these events.  As more and more gatherings begin to pop up around the city on the fringes of WTM, largely due to our collective power on the internet to organise and come together I think it is with real optimism that we can approach the week ahead.  Ben Colclough of Tourdust put together a handy Alternative Guide to WTM last week that acts as a useful reference.

You can connect with the Fringe Network online follow the event using #rtnet on Twitter.

Of course the monstrosity that is WTM will be bulging at the seams next week, with towering displays of marketing budgets gone wild and industry representatives from all corners of the world making a years worth of deals.  There will be a few bloggers strutting the lengths of Excel busy twittering away and making notes about the experience, I’ll be one of those, but it’s the smaller more intimate events like the Fringe networking event and Travel Blog Camp that I’m looking forward to.

I’m delighted to announce that Make Travel Fair has a new contributing editor.  Michelle Rodrigues has joined us in Miami to help with writing, editing and sourcing stories.  She published her first article today – Tasting the tequila trail.

Jai Alai, Miami / Photo by Stephen Chapman

Michelle is in her last semester at Florida International University’s School of Hospitality Management, and also works as web marketing and media specialist for WHL Consulting.  She moved to Miami from New York to pursue her degree in one of the country’s most visited cities, is fashion obsessed and loves to travel.

Find her on Twitter as michrodr.

Welcome aboard Michelle.

The refined nature of tequila and the history that accompanies it is often overlooked by drinkers. New world wine regions like South Australia’s Barossa Valley and California’s Napa Valley have been home to vineyards since the mid-nineteenth century. Scotland’s Strathspey region has been producing single malt whisky since the end of the eighteenth century. The citizens of Tequila, Mexico and the state of Jalisco have been making Tequila for over 400 years. Originally an alcoholic drink made by the Aztecs, it was later discovered and introduced to the world by the Spanish Conquistadors.

Photo from krembo1's Flickr

La Ruta del Tequila – Mexico’s Napa Valley

In 2007, the Mexican government began promoting La Ruta del Tequila – the Tequila Trail – using the wine country of Napa Valley as a model. The objective is to strengthen economic and cultural development in the region and provide a means for boosting tourism related industries in the state of Jalisco by taking this local brand global.

World Heritage site

Over 50 million gallons of tequila is sold worldwide every year with every drop coming from this once sleepy region of Mexico. The Agavero Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila were recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2006 – a distinction won for their significance in maintaining the cultural pride and integrity of the state of Jalisco. As originator of the drink, the region has been granted a geographical indication (GI).

No Tequila slammers here

Much like wine aficionados, savoir-faire tequila collectors are snatching up unique hand blown glass, crystal, pottery and ceramic bottles filled with different types of tequila. Even Justin Timberlake has launched his own tequila brand – 901 Silver. In Mexico, tequila is often drunk straight: no rocks, no salt and definitely no lime. You’ll often find drinkers of fine tequila who will alternate sipping a shot of tequila with an equal sized shot of sangrita – a drink aimed to stir your senses into a spiral as a mixture of sweet, sour and spicy.

Types of Tequila

• Unaged tequila is blanco, or silver, while tequila that has a gold or caramel colour is called joven abocado, ‘bottled young’.
• Reposada, ‘rested’, tequila is aged in oak for at least two months.
• añejo, ‘aged’, has aged for a year or more.

To be classified as tequila, the liquor has to be made from no less than 51% Weber blue agave.

Tourism development in Jalisco, Mexico

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has signed on with the Tequila Regulatory Council to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) situated in the originating home of tequila and help accommodate an increase in visitor numbers without threatening the region’s culture and land. WHL Consulting will be working with the IDB and running its own programs in the region to ensure that these SMEs are indeed market ready and equipped with all the tools necessary to promote themselves effectively on a global scale.  They will also be working to create access to the tourism market for these SMEs through online channels from the the very beginning.

Poor farming practices

With the boom in tequila production, much of the agricultural land has become victim to mass producers looking to pounce on a money making opportunity. The result is poorly cultivated land unprotected against infestation and disease. Many larger companies have resorted to harvesting their own agave, rather than relying on independent farmers, losing some of the traditional farming practices. This is another area where work clearly needs to be done.

Further information

• Drinking Tequila in Tequila – a nice account of the experience with plenty of pictures. (Twitter: CAroundTheWorld)
• For accommodation and tours in Mexico visit whl.travel …your local connection.

First it was news that Google and Microsoft Bing had each made their own agreements with either Facebook, Twitter or both to include them in search results. Now it’s news that Google has turned on the social search functionality as an opt-in service through Google Labs.

There is no shortage of talk online about this development, both tnooz: ‘Google makes travel search three-dimensional with Social Search‘ and ReadWriteWeb: ‘Google Search Gets Personal: Social Search Launches in Google Labs‘ are good articles on the finer details.

Photo from sparkle★rawk's Flickr

Do you start you travel research at Google?

An interesting aspect of all this is how it will impact travel.  A Google search is already the main starting point for many travellers when thinking about a trip abroad, hence the competition amongst travel companies associated with buying Adwords in order to show up for popular search terms, and the intensive SEO campaigns run by businesses based around keywords.

Real-time search only appeared relatively recently with the rise of Twitter and now we’re seeing the next stage as search companies leverage our extensive social activity on the Web to create personalised, relevant results.  Will more travel companies be cozying up to Twitter and Facebook users?

Google arrives as the biggest social network

Suddenly Google’s stealth in building its own social network without the walls of a site like Facebook or MySpace is starting to show.  The fact is that searching on Google has become such an integral part of the internet experience that it no longer really requires a home page – who starts their searches at Google.com? who keeps tabs on the changing Google logo anymore? – whereas even sites as big as Facebook are still largely locked behind their login page.  Once again Google is the aggregator.

Goodbye SEO campaigns, hello engagement

Google search result pages for hotels and destinations have become such a battle field for the top spots that any search is far from organic these days, listings are the result of carefully crafted SEO strategies run by any savvy travel company.  I’d much rather rely on search listings extracted from my social circle – these are generally trusted people who aren’t pushing brands without having an opinion I’m likely to share in.

The search we’ve always wanted

Mahalo tried the human powered search,  new companies like Tripbod are walking a similar path but as social search improves and takes off, all of a sudden technology might start to produce the sort of relevant, personalized search results that we’ve all been yearning for.  The strong values based businesses with loyal followers and keen brand ambassadors will be brought to the fore ahead of huge, search optimised websites like Expedia.

A social search reaching into all our social activity sounds like exactly what we need to help deal with the overflow of information, the ever increasing number of social sites and also as a way to put some trust back into reviews and recommendations.

Keep connecting, keep engaging

For all those small businesses taking a guerilla approach to marketing, connecting with consumers through social media and letting word of mouth do the talking, search might just be beginning to favour you… thank goodness.

Tom cycles on / Photo by Tom Allen

Every couple of months sees the announcement of yet another heroic long-distance solo bicycle odyssey, pitting man against the elements across the world’s great landmasses for months or years on end.

Each of these projects is a noble one. Undoubtedly they will involve huge personal challenges – mental far more than physical. These riders are often setting themselves targets they don’t understand themselves. Three years ago, I was in exactly the same situation myself!

Continue reading this article @ Ride Earth

Post Office Travel Money Card

It’s not everyday you get asked to test out a product so the opportunity to explore this new offering from the Post Office was quite a pleasant surprise.

The Post Office is often the place i’ll go to change money before a trip away, because it’s convenient and because there’s no commission taken from the exchange.  Trying out their new Travel Money Card is something that I would probably have got around to eventually but being incentivised to write about the experience here by the Post Office certainly sped up my interest in it.

The idea is that you preload the card with currency and use it whilst you’re abroad instead of your bank account.  It’s good for ATM withdrawals, in-store payment, all the tasks that a regular VISA Electron card can manage.  I picked mine up from the Post Office, loaded it up with some US dollars, activated the card over the phone the next day and I was ready to go.  The card does deduct a fee for withdrawing money from ATMs but using the card in-store to pay for items is free, this is how I decided to use it.  It was on my recent trip to Miami that I gave the card a try and it worked perfectly.  It was only declined once in a supermarket, the rest of the time it was fine.  I brought my card home with some dollars still on it but they will sit on there happily until my next sojourn.  If you do run out whilst you’re away it is possible to top-up over the phone.

On my last big period of travel I carried a Nationwide Debit card which allowed me to withdraw money from ATMs around the world with no charge.  This has since changed slightly and there is now a small fee involved, a fee that Nationwide previously absorbed but decided they could no longer afford.  This makes the Travel Money Card a great option for carrying money abroad from my experience, I’ll be using it again.

Photo by Sh@wn~c0mbs on Flickr

This situation arose recently for a colleague of mine. (Those on Twitter may remember I mentioned it briefly.)

I won’t go into details, but it was a South American destination, and some rural, no-frills accommodation. The owner told the writer, very politely, that she specifically did not want to reach out to a European or US clientele. Why? The general gist seemed to be it would bring a different set of expectations from the guests and the owners would be under more pressure.

Continue reading this article @ Going Local

Kids in Cambodia / Photo from whl.travel Blog

A global range of city-based tours, Urban Adventures is a franchise-based network of local tour operators specialising in high-quality experiential tour and activity services.

Urban Adventures range from two-hour to one-day adventures and uncover back streets, hidden gems and fascinating sights. While these adventures may be short in duration, they’re long on real-life experiences. Step into the lives of the locals, find out what makes the city tick and get acquainted with the local food, culture and traditions, all in the company of an expert local guide. See more than just the usual sights on an Urban Adventure.

Continue reading this article @ whl.travel Blog

Tom Allen on his way back to England / Photo by Tom Allen

The trip began well, progressed through a lot of self-inflicted suffering, continued into ill health, and ended on a happy note.

I have to be honest – it was a lot tougher than I’d thought it would be. It was also a lot further than I’d imagined. I embarked rather spontaneously on this micro-adventure, carrying nothing but a toothbrush, a poncho and a knife (as well as my wallet, passport, and a cameraphone to record the journey). Hitching is something I believe is worth reviving.

Continue reading this article @ Ride Earth

Photo by Ben Keene

It’s June 1997 and members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) are sweeping through the Kington district of Freetown, Sierra Leone ‘recruiting’ for their militia by snatching babies and children and shooting the rest.

“The rebels were at our door. They came in with their guns. They wanted my baby son. I pleaded no, that he had a stomach sickness. The female rebel told the men to go. She gave me 100,000 leones (£20) and left. I thanked God. Maybe if I didn’t have a sick son to care about they would also have taken me away. They killed one baby near to my house.”

Blood diamonds

The ‘resource’ war was being fueled by a fight for diamonds dug along river beds to the East of the capital. The exchange of diamonds for weapons between the RUF and Liberia was deepening the crisis. The 1997 surge on Freetown was its violent climax where more than 3000 lives were lost. You’ve probably seen or heard of the film ‘Blood Diamond’ starring Leonardo Dicaprio depicting these horrific events. Sadly for many living in Sierra Leone today, this was a reality, not Hollywood.

“Since my baby and I survived that day I have always wanted the best for him. Sometimes I sacrifice my whole salary just to send him to school. John is everything I have. At first I resisted football as I thought it would take time from school but now I can see the future it can give him. He is a goalkeeper and if he makes the academy everything could change. He could lead our country.”

Football driving change

Selina MaCarthy, a nurse and her only son John Fillie, were lucky to survive. Twelve years on and John is on the cusp of being selected as one of a dozen first generation players to Sierra Leone’s first professional youth football academy. Scouted from across the country this small group of young boys will represent a project that has aspirations not just to help them realise their potential but to also use football to empower teams and communities to initiate positive social change. An ambitious project in any country, but considering the recent history of Sierra Leone and with unemployment at 80%, it appears brave and optimistic.

Freetown

“Welcome to Lungi International – you are in Freetown now!” Exclaims Kenya Airways as you taxi past the mirage of palm trees on a single strip of sweltering tarmac.

Freetown. Like its African neighbour to the North East, Timbuktu, Freetown is one of those distant, exotic, almost mythical places that most of us are aware exist, vaguelly recalling a lyric from a song or a reference in history, but little more. This is slightly worrying, considering the significant role we as a colonial power played in forming it. Aside from the familiarity of names – Aberdeen, Waterloo, Hastings – the first thing you notice in Freetown is the typical bustle but without the hassle I’ve experienced in other African cities.

The dramatic geography of Freetown – sweeping peninsula, arcing beaches and ports, and steep surging hills, is almost at odds with its quiet charmed chaos; endless ramshackle Dickensian markets, with seas of people, taxis, bikes, trolleys, swelling in and out of the streets like tides. There are numerous war-inflicted amputees who wheel themselves along muddy alleyways in gloriously inventive homemade contraptions. One guy who looks my age and has lost both his legs high above the knee calls me from his tricycle, ‘hey aboto (white man) don’t take taxi. Come with me. I have four wheel drive,’ before pulling an impressive wheely, laughing loudly and spinning off down the hill.

The buildings have retained their colonial style but since the war many have changed the materials they’re built with; window shutters and steep rooftops are bent out of corrugated iron rather than hard woods and stone – it’s like a Tim Burton town in the sunshine. If anything, wondering through Freetown I feel less threatened, less of an outsider, than in other African city’s I’ve visited. In Freetown you happily become part of that ‘seething mass of humanity’ we often hear about but rarely experience.

Photo by Ben Keene

The birth of an idea

My invite to this vibrant place came via a friend I’d kept in touch with since the summers I’d spent leading volunteer expeditions in West Africa. In 1999 Tom Vernon took some time out from a sports science degree in Liverpool and found himself coaching and teaching on the streets of Ghana’s capital, Accra. Tom was quickly struck by the gaping hole between the potential of these brilliant ten year olds and the countries so called poor Premier League. Something was going badly wrong in their development. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that a lack of adequate nourishment and basic education were undermining any chance these young talented players of becoming something.

Tom rallied family and friends in High Wycombe and soon had the funds to start a basic academy. He scouted the country for his first generation of players, recruited volunteer coaches and teachers and set about work. Ten years on, Tom and his team at Right to Dream are completing a European standard sports academy in Ghana, have graduates at Fulham FC and, almost more impressively considering these boys backgrounds, 22 are currently on scholarships at top colleges in the UK and the States. Tom has also managed to become Manchester United’s head scout for Africa. Funny what a summer teaching English abroad can lead to.

A new academy

Photo by Ben Keene

In 2007 Tom got a call from a well known English Premier League player asking if he could help him set up a similar academy in Sierra Leone. Craig Bellamy, captain of Wales and today one of a plethora of world-class strikers at Manchester City, did not have the best ‘google me’ results page as he would be the first to admit. Regardless of reputations a partnership was formed, Bellamy visited Sierra Leone again, wrote a significant initial cheque and publicly made his commitment to the people of this war-torn nation. The government gave the newly formed Craig Bellamy Foundation a decent slice of land an hour from Freetown and in mid 2008 the goal-scorer took part in a ceremony and broke the earth where the new academy would be built.

It’s July 2009 and Bellamy is in South Africa preparing for the upcoming season. His visit to Sierra Leone last month oversaw the final trials 27 of which, 16 will become the academy’s first generation. The young goalkeeper John and his mother are hoping he makes the cut.

A new football league

Alongside the academy, the Bellamy Foundation has also set-up with seed funding from UNICEF, a football league built on incentives that go beyond winning fortnightly matches. Each one of the forty U14 and U12 teams are also awarded points for fair play on the pitch, attending school and on the weekends when games don’t take place, initiating and completing community projects. Meeting some of the teams coaches and managers and you soon discover that a football league table can be a powerful motivator.

As we watch the competitvely fought U12 game between Promising Stars and Portugeuse Town in front a crowd in their hundreds, Kamusu Koroma, Regional Manager for the league in the Freetown district tells me:

“Previously the coaches and supporters would beat the ref before the game starts. Through the coaches training programme and now in the league we are demostrating fair play and incentivising ourselves to change the way we behave.”

When I ask if this is an overnight change across the league, Kamusu acknowledges the reality, “This is not a day job, it is a process. The good thing is that we are confronting corruption head on and showing that you can win football matches without cheating and violence.”

Coach of Freetown’s Eastern Eagles, Abdul Karim, goes further; “I believe the fair play policy of the CBF league is already changing attitudes of the young players. We are moving away from violence in our communities because of this league.”

The boys themselves are understandably more focused on the football but are still aware of the bigger picture they’re involved in, “Let me say the difference between this league and other games I’ve played in is that we are all all brothers here. We don’t fight anymore but we can still win,” says a determined looking 13 year old called Suleman who is known simply to everyone else as Essien because he is rarely beaten in a challenge even when he plays with boys two years older than him.

Off the football pitch

Beyond the football pitches the teams have already been involved in community clean-ups, water well repairs, and leading peer and health education sessions. As Tom Vernon suggests this is quite something considering that many of these boys older brothers, uncles and fathers were the child soldiers that make “this today’s history.” And because like goalkeeper John, most of the boys in this league were born just as the civil war was reaching its peak in the late 1990s, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is with them where a good chunk of hope for a better Sierra Leone rests. We know there are many life lessons to be learnt through sport but when it is set against this kind of recent historical backdrop as it is here, it becomes a much more powerful opportunity to those fortunate enough to be involved. Coming here you can understand the wave of optimism.

The beginnings of something special

During my stay in Freetown I am a guest of Durosimi Thomas and his family. Duro is the foundation’s in-country director who has built a career as a freelance BBC sports correspondent (he had a premonition in 2001 not to go to African Nations cup game in Ghana because he tripped on a stone that morning, 126 people died in a stadium crush that day), resurrecting local interest in football and staunchly fighting anti-corruption in his country at every turn. A deep voiced, our-man-in-freetown thick set man, Duro is only too aware not to get carried away;

“Football is what I know, and football can teach people to be better citizens quickly. But it will still take time. Bellamy has given Sierra Leonian’s a good opportunity to find a new way, let’s hope we take this chance.”

The league is only three months old and the academy is yet to open, but the hundred strong staff now involved with this new approach to sport and development in Sierra Leone obviously believe passionately in what they are doing both for themselves and their nation.

Kamusu, the regional manager of the league for Freetown, shakes my hand as I leave one red-sand rectangle of football, shouting and laughter for another;

“Football is finally getting a great name here – before, playing football was seen as idleness, now you can break the cycle of poverty by kicking a ball.”

For Kamusu, young John the goalkeeper, and his friends that survived the horrors of last decades war it is the simplicity of such an ambition that seems to be kick-starting the kind of positive mindset many people of this beautiful country clearly crave.

These footballers can feel change coming, even if it is only one game at a time.

Article written by Ben Keene on his visit to Freetown in July 2009.  The Craig Bellamy Foundation Academy will officially open in 2010. The league will extend later this year to also include girls and amputees.

Further information:

• craigbellamyfoundation.org
• righttodream.com
• Twitter: craigbellamySL