ltm

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[|Planeta.com] is a proud partner of the [|Local Travel Movement] — one main goal of which is to make ‘local travel’ a key travel trend, aka buzzword that percolates on the Web and on the street. The movement is a celebration of the long tail writ in the world of travel. Small is indeed beautiful!

The Local Travel Movement trumpets a call to people and organizations with a passion for local travel and commitment to local travel values. The promising reverberations of this international, free-to-join movement have already inspired more than 100 organizations to join a growing list of [|partners].

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 [|partners], the Local Travel Movement is not overly descriptive. Rather than define ‘local travel,’ the Local Travel Movement simply places [|values] 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 traveler:

• connecting with local people before, during and after a trip • traveling 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 prioritizes this conscious and conscientious shift in attention to the direct connection between visitor and local host. For travelers 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, maximizing a general awareness of the local culture and minimizing '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.

[|Ethan Gelber], it’s refreshing to see how in-sync we are about where the travel industry is today and the possibilities of where it can go. Says Ethan: “The Local Travel Movement [|adds momentum] to a growing movement, to a growing sense of awareness within the industry that there is a still a disconnect with the traveler.”

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Ethan sees the movement – spread across the web using web 2.0 channels including [|Facebook], [|LinkedIn] and [|Twitter]– as an opportunity to create a nexus that shows travelers how to successfully engage with locals.

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The LTM Blog
http://www.localtravelmovement.com

**Blog content by Subject Matter**
Local Accommodation Local Food Local Tours Local Transport Opinion Partners Elsewhere on the Web

**Facebook**
[] LTM has a fast-growing Facebook page with more than 1,500 friends. (Are a friend? Become one now.) This page is there for you to use! Post and share there about your local travel activities and news. Did you know that, if you 'like' the Local Travel FB page, wait a day and then use '@Local Travel' when you post to your own wall, your news will also appear on the Local Travel wall? Try it!

**Twitter**
[|http://twitter.com/#!/localtravels] @localtravels currently has 1065 followers and grows larger every day. (Are you following? If not, it's never too late.) The account has now been set up to retweet your tweets, but only if yours are about local travel and thus contain the word 'local' or the hashtag #localtravel. Please keep that in mind when you tweet. And please also retweet news from @localtravels.

**Linkedin**
[] Guidelines:

1) Do not post articles solely written to promote your company. 2) If you see any spam posted, please flag it as unsuitable and we will then see that it is removed.

**Tripatini**
[]

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