As the first of our 5 corporate values here at Easia Travel lists ‘caring’, each one of us feels responsible for not only the people we work for, or work with, but also greatly for the people of the communities we work and operate in.
Keeping ‘humans’ at our core in pretty much everything we do, the creation of our Self-Guided Tours bears no difference and inspires us to create innovative new travel products that ultimately deliver a quadruple win. A win for everyone involved in the programs we conduct: us, you, your travelers, as well as the people of the communities, visited.
Driven by purpose & targeting recovery
As outlined earlier in our 4th article in the ESGT explainer series; ‘Why Add Self-Guided Tours to Your Product Portfolio?’, one of the main missions of our Self-Guided Tours is to help travelers spend their money at locally owned businesses in the destination. This way, your travelers’ spending would directly (and indirectly) help to restore much-needed economic post-pandemic stability for many of the seriously distressed workers and small businesses in Southeast Asia’s hospitality industry.
This underlying principle is what drives us forward.
Developed on standards
Standard to every product we design and every tour we facilitate, all our products and operations are in strict accordance with both Travelife for Tour Operators & Travel Agents as well as Childsafe guidelines & requirements and complemented with our own Easia Sustainability Policy.
In order to support a respectful and positive experience for both the ones visiting as the ones visited, a traveler’s code of conduct is included in all digital ESGT road books.
The Easia team in Yangon after having successfully completed their Childsafe training (May 2018)
Quang (far left) & Veronique (far right) from our Hanoi office after having successfully completed their Childsafe training (May 2018)
Easia Travel co-owner and managing director Thuy Hoa (far left) with the Easia sustainability team after receiving the first Travelife Partnership certification for Easia (June 2018)
Passionate support for NGOs & small local businesses
All our self-guided itineraries include tips on where to eat and drink, focusing on the best local eateries, coffee shops, and more, not only delivering a more local and authentic experience for your traveler but also enabling them to spend their money with local NGOs or family run businesses instead of international chains.
Highly recommended, the coffee shop of Bayon Pastry School in Siem Reap is a free vocational training opportunity for underprivileged women of Cambodia
A local fruit juice seller in Cambodia squeezing fresh sugarcane
No better way to experience true Hanoi than to sit back and sip a drink at a local coffee shop in Hanoi’s Old Quarter
A traveler tasting fresh local delicacies in Hanoi, Vietnam
The same goes for our drivers and transportation partners, and we’ll use local means of transportation where possible.
Mr Rany, our ever-smiling go-to tuk tuk driver for any short transfers in and around Kampot, southern Cambodia
In terms of accommodation, we’ll usually suggest smaller and locally owned boutique hotels in the cities and vetted home stays for overnights during more remote excursions.
We have great relationships with local suppliers for our bicycles and any additional equipment your travelers could potentially need.
Outside of specific requests, our bicycles are exclusively sourced from local suppliers
Enabling remote communities and underprivileged families to benefit from international tourism
For meals and accommodation while out on ‘hybrid’ self-guided tours in the remote corners of our destinations we aim to create mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships with local communities and/or households when possible.
These partnerships often include;
- Dedicated hospitality training by our operations and training departments
- Microcredit loans are needed for the purchase of necessary equipment or the upgrade of infrastructure
- English language training
- Health and safety workshops
and more…
Members of our Thai team after having conducted a training reintroducing bamboo and natural materials as a replacement for single-use plastic and styrofoam to the Akha community we work within Phrao, Northern Chiang Mai
Easia Product Manager for Thailand Bram and Senior Product Consultant Veronique during a weekend reviewing the pros and cons of community-based tourism with a local Akha community in Northern Thailand
A local Thai couple in Northern Thailand weaving small baskets out of reed
Conclusion
By embarking on an Easia Self-Guided Tour, be it a ‘hybrid’ or ‘fully autonomous’ module or itinerary, your travelers will be presented with ample opportunities for meeting and learning from our local people and communities, whilst simultaneously empowered to leave behind a modest yet positive impact, making every trip count towards a more sustainable future for the destinations they visit.
Sound interesting?
Or perhaps you’re still puzzled as to how this could help your business?
Why not simply leave us your email and we’ll get in touch with you shortly
Interested in reading more about Easia Self-Guided Tours (ESGT)?
Check out the other informative articles in our ESGT explainer series:
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
