Local travel seems to be an up and coming trend this year, and why not? With benefits for both travellers and locals it seems like a win-win scenario.

Travellers gain from some real expert knowledge on the ground whilst saving money spending locally and in return local heritage and culture is respected and nourished.

Local travel takes you outside of the bubble that you can often find yourself as a traveller. Instead of travelling from place to place and only really scratching the surface, local travel helps you to gain more of an understanding of a place, it’s culture, it’s environment, it’s economy and it’s people.

This is not only an extremely rewarding way to travel but also helps to preserve and sustain local businesses and peoples lives.

Whilst in Sydney, Australia I met up with Ethan Gelber one of the founders of The Local Travel Movement for lunch and some travel talk. We chatted about local travel, whl.travel and it’s values. Being an experienced traveller I’ve always been aware of the importance of local travel and I was impressed with the shared core values of the WHL.travel and The Local Travel Movement.

The Local Travel Movement was first initiated to bring together people and organisations with a real passion for local travel and with a commitment to local travel values.

Even in these early days  an impressive 40 plus organisations have joined the growing list of partners involved in the movement.

The Local Travel Movement 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

If you have a company that is founded on these core values and beliefs or even if you’re a traveller with an interest there is more info at The Local Travel Movement.

For travellers who see the importance in travelling locally, accommodation, tours as well as other locally centred activities can be found at whl.travel. A great site to start your travel experience.