building partnerships with local communities: the key to community-based tourism
TRANSCRIPT
Soksabike (Kinyei)
Successful partnership with local communities: keys to community based tourism
Yurie Nagashima
KINYEI CAFE
Kinyei
Kinyei, founded in 2010:
1) To create vocational training opportunities for local youth
2) To foster community development through responsible tourism
Soksabike:cultural and educational bicycle tours
Tours visit Cambodian families in the countryside so visitors can learn about the everyday life in the countryside.
The guides provide a brief language lesson at the beginning of the tour so the visitors can greet and thank the local families they visit in the local language.
Kinyei Café:- Offers high quality food & drinks- Exceptional coffee using beans sustainably harvested and procured from Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand
Employment of local youth
• Soksabike and Kinyei Café employ and train local university students and recent graduates
• They work part time with us and attend university in the evenings or on weekends
• Working with us allows them to finance their education
Hand-over of the businesses
• Founders asked the staff how they wanted the businesses to be managed after their departure from Cambodia in 2013
• Café team said they would manage on their own -> local manager
• Soksabike team wanted a foreign and local manager ->two managers working together
• Founders now act as board and conduct annual site visits
Recruiting
• New hire can be from any university in Battambang
• Two universities in BTB with tourism and hospitality department
• More formal relationships with schools in the near future– Job shadowing, internship, site visits, etc
Training:- On the job training- Creating a more structured training curriculum- Sense of progress among staff- Study trips to try another tour
Training:- On the job training- Study trips to coffee farms- Participate in Barista competitions
– two national champions
Graduates of Kinyei
• Moving on after a few years• International NGOs, starting their own business,
tourism sector in Thailand, team leader at a bigger bicycle tour company, etc
• Once we expand further in BTB, we can offer more senior level positions so staff don’t need to leave BTB to pursue a more challenging post
-> contribute to local economy
KINYEI CAFE
Kinyei
How the two businesses work together
• Café promotes bike tours, handles booking and bike rental
• Soksabike offers one free café drinks to tour guests
• Two businesses with different clienteles– Soksabike – foreign visitors– Kinyei Café – foreign visitors and local residnets
• Shared finance -> more stability in cash flow• Shared IT and admin staff and office space
Working with local communities:- Consultation with local families before launching tours- Annual social impact survey- Part of tour income goes to families to compensate them for their time and hospitality
Community projects in low season:-Workshop at primary school-Environmental protection and heritage preservation-Clean up at heritage site and school ground
Educational fun ride for children supported by NGOs:- Visits to the memorial site for Khmer Rouge victims and a Buddhist pagoda- Use our expertise and resource as an educational tour operator to benefit the community
Workshop at Kinyei Café:- Strive to take a leadership role in educating the local community about responsible tourism, environmental protection, etc
Fun rides with local residents:- Promotes cycling, healthy life style- Experiences and appreciates nature- Visits heritage sites nearby
Partners and supporters
• Importance of having partners and supporters that are industry leaders
• Receive advice and support since inception
