South East Asia tour, 38 days

Planet

Wildlife education and protection
We believe that tourism - when controlled, operated and managed responsibly plays an essential role in the preservation of the Asian elephant and other endangered species. We only offer wildlife camps and experiences when we’re entirely satisfied with their management and operational procedures, and we stringently monitor them.

Minimise plastic usage.
We launched our 'one bottle at a time' initiative to replace disposable plastic water bottles with refillable canisters across our destinations including Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. We also send our guests a wooden toothbrush to help avoid using hotels’ disposable plastic brushes, and whilst in country your local guide will also be on hand to advice with regards to recycling.

In order to truly contribute towards a healthier planet, we believe in putting our efforts into traveling responsibly and donating towards conservation projects. This is why we’ve put together the Selective Earth Programme, which offers all our clients the opportunity to contribute towards conservation projects in Asia. We have teamed up with the World Land Trust (WLT) – an international conservation charity who actively conserve Asia’s rainforest whilst supporting local communities. We work closely with the trust to identify which projects are a priority for funding, to ensure our donations keep on making a difference. We are currently contributing towards the conservation of the Khe Nuoc Trong forest, in Vietnam, as well as planting fruit trees in the surrounding communities.

People

Stay & Eat local.
One of our core values is to collaborate with local, responsible companies and partners who share our focus, beliefs and passions. We work with local guides, local operators and hotel partners, and will always offer small, local accommodation options to. Our vacations are designed to enable our clients to immerse themselves in local places and experiences, and we make sure that, wherever possible, the income they bring to a destination goes back into the community.

Friends
Whilst in Phnom Penh you also have the opportunity to eat at a local kindness restaurant ‘Friends’. The aim of this programme is to help educate and train local street children in hospitality and catering so as to provide them an income and housing in the short term, and skills to provide for themselves in the future.

MAG - Mine Advisory Group
Since 1994 MAG has worked across the Xieng Khouang and Khammouane provinces of Laos directly helping more than 900,000 people to live safer lives, free from danger and fear, with a further 2 million benefiting indirectly. Using the funds raised they are working towards the goal of clearing every single piece of land bombed during the Vietnam war, which left Laos the most bombed country in the world per capita. MAG assesses what difference UXO clearance will make to communities, and targets the land that will most benefit each community, working in partnership with development organisations to ensure that cleared land is used productively. All staff are employed locally, and trained and supervised by their technical experts, so that they can do the job in safety, with the intention of building a safe and skilled local capacity to deal with areas affected by UXO.

Lone Buffalo.
An inspirational community project based in Phonsavan (north-eastern Laos), Lone Buffalo is dedicated to improving opportunities for young people from rural backgrounds through free English tuition, sport and creative skills programmes. LB also operates an acclaimed football coaching programme, and has branched out into film-making, offering students fun, diverse opportunities to develop. We proudly sponsor Class 3C, and have been avidly following their development like proud parents since 2015. The students, who are in their early teens, have progressed from Beginner level through Advanced Beginner to Elementary.

Local partners.
We hire local guides and drivers whenever possible. We also insist that any travel partners we work with adhere to our responsible travel policies, and ideally put responsible tourism at the heart of everything they do. We work collaboratively with them to ensure an ongoing exchange of information, so we can all continue to improve our work around responsible tourism.