hgtravel sustainability booklet
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
As one of the company's core values,
sustainability is based upon three pillars in HG Travel
Our Team
Our Products
Our Suppliers
TogetherSustainable experiences
To underline the significance of developing sustainable products, HG Travel dedicates a full product line - "Together" - to contribute towards mankind's welfare and sustainable society.
Our Product
“Together” is HG Travel's product line designed for travelers who care and who aim to make a positive impactwhile visiting Indochina.
Together is about giving back and helping the less fortunate members of the community. The countries of Indochina, beautiful as they are, cannot be considered as developed as west- ern countries. Especially in remote regions, you might find a lack of infrastructure, an insufficient education system and no health care. But in spite of a difficult past, recent conflicts and even genocide, the people here keep smiling and are looking forward to a better future. We want to enable you
to be part of this future and share some experi- ences with the locals.
There are many approaches to sustainable tourism and Together comprises a variety of them. Whether you like to actively help by getting involved in
community projects or just like to share a bowl of pho with the locals, supporting their small business, we can put you in the right place. But helping
in a sustainable way can be difficult;; many offers in Indo- china are not what they seem. Especially when it comes to orphanages and children in Cambodia, we might advise you against visits, as many such operations are just out to make money for the owner, while the children are misused as tourist attractions.
Our Product
Our Product
Chi Phat Community Based Ecotourism
Visit Chi Phat, a remote community in the Cardamom Mountains. This village has received training and development guidance from Wildlife Alliance, an international organization to protect wildlife
and nature. Transferring from Phnom Penh, you'll be met by a community motor taxi in Koh Kong for the final stretch of road to the village (17Km, taking around 40 minutes). It’s a beautiful trip into the Cardamoms and the first wildlife can be observed in the form of birds. At Chi Phat you will be welcomed by your community guide and learn about the area's visitor code of conduct. You will then have time to wander the village and enjoy lunch. After lunch you will take a short mountain bike trip to waterfalls just north of Chi Phat where you can enjoy a relaxing swim. You can take some of the short trails around the area and your guide will tell you more about the
area's wilderness and environmental highlights. You will then visit the Reforestation Project Nursery (about 3km) to learn about the reforestation project, and you can plant a tree to contribute
to Conservation of the Cardamoms. Riding further to Bold Mountain View, you can enjoy the scene from sunset point (about 3km from commune). Heading back to Chi Phat, you will freshen up and
then enjoy dinner the community prepares for you. A quiet, early night here under a bright, star filled sky is an unforgettable experience.
It is our responsibility to manage visitors flow to remote areas and community based tourism projects to maximise the benefit for locals. Further, HG Travel actively supports its own community based project in Tu Ne.
Projects
Example
Our Product
Preah Rumkel Community Based Ecotourism
Preah Rumkel Community-Based Tourism Site is located in the flooded forest, near the home of the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins, with unique biodiversity and people; truly an exotic location. To visit Sopheak Mitt Waterfall, board a boat for a 7km/1hr cruise against the current, enjoying scenic river views and glimpses of various birds. To reach the falls you will dock and trek 3.3km, over hills, across streams and through the jungle. Apart from the trek, the rest of the day is free to relax around the falls. In the dry season from December to May, the level of the Mekong River is low and the water is very clear.
Tu Ne Community Based Tourism
Located in the peaceful countryside with lush fields of rice and sugarcane bordered by limestone mountains, the region is home to a large number of Muong ethnic minority group. The Tu Ne Community Based Tourism (CBT) project - funded & implemented by CECAD and HG Travel – strictly follows sustainable and community concept, which is eco-friendly and operated exclusively by locals and indigenous people.
Come to Tu Ne, gain a deeper understanding of local culture and let your travel help the sustainable development of the Tu Ne area throuhg the alternative source of income: sustainable
tourism.
Example
Our Product
Tam Hiep Kindergarten ProjectBen Tre Province, Vietnam
Located on an island, the locals of Tam Hiep commune has very limited income source. Hence, educational facilities are either not available or in bad shape. In collaboration with our Australian oversea tour operator, HG Travel organized a tour project helping the local commune with renovating classrooms, purchase new chairs and tables.
Projects
Example
Our Product
Na Sai Kindergarten projectMai Chau, Hoa Binh province, Vietnam
Located in the remote mountainous area of Mai Chau, the kids in Na Sai village have to struggle daily over 4 kilometres to nearby village's kindergarten.HG Travel joined hands with a Korean tour operator in organizing a project trip to build a new kindergarten and provide proper playing ground for the kids in Na Sai.
Projects
Example
Our SuppliersSuppliers
HG Travel's integral approach to sustainable tourism includes
the right choice of suppliers. It starts with selecting people
who are willing to make a difference and support them in
their efforts. Be it the guide, training provision, the
restaurants , training street kids. We even send our
clients to the right suppliers for drinking water, who
uses eco friendly techniques - our quality control
makes sure that we have the best partners possible.
Our Suppliers
Sleep
Sustainably engaged means that you might want to compromise the pampered
luxury and stay close to the locals at their homestay and enhance your
experience and feelings. Otherwise HG can arrange environment-friendly
luxury eco-hotels, resorts or lodges close to the site for your comfort
while staying there.
Tu Ne Muong house-on-stilt homestay
Arriving in Tu Ne, you will be accommodate at Mr. Cu A Nong's homestay in Muong
house-on-stilt traditinational architecture, and enjoy the friendly talk with the host about the
Muong's tradidtions and customs.
Chi Phat Homestays
The Chi Phat CBET project has 12 guesthouses and 5 home-stays that are official members of
the project. Membership in the CBET (Community Based Eco Tourism initiative) means that
the facilities are monitored by the CBET committee, they are being cleaned regularly, and
that facility owners share a portion of their revenues with the community fund, allowing
the project to become sustainable. Bookings are made on a
rotation basis to ensure business is shared equally among
the accommodation providers. However, visitors may also
choose their preferred guest house or home stay.
Sala Don Khone Ecolodge
Experience a homestay in one of the ecolodge along the river with beautiful
landscape scenery of river and mountains and let yourself treated well by the friendly Laotian staff.
Our SuppliersSleepExample
Our Suppliers
Topaz EcolodgeTopas Ecolodge is a small hotel situated on a beautiful hilltop deep in the
mountains of Hoang Lien National Park only 45 min outside Sapa town
in the North of Vietnam. The ecolodge has 25 mountain bungalows all
built as rustic chalet-style single bedroom houses from local white granite.
You can enjoy the magnificent view of the towering peaks and endless
valleys dotted with ethnic minorities’ villages. A perfect place for touring in
the surrounding area hiking or biking or just relaxing from the noisy and busy
city life.
4 Rivers Floating Lodge4 Rivers Floating Lodge, an environmentally friendly 4-star boutique resort, offers the perfect
get-away from the daily bustle admist unspoilt virgin forests, paradise of birds and tropical
jungle alonge with pure luxury and high-end facilities.
SleepExample
Tu Ne Muong house-on-stilt homestay
Arriving in Tu Ne, you will be accommodate at Mr. Cu A Nong's homestay in Muong
house-on-stilt traditinational architecture, and enjoy the friendly talk with the host about the
Muong's tradidtions and customs.
Chi Phat Homestays
The Chi Phat CBET project has 12 guesthouses and 5 home-stays that are official members of
the project. Membership in the CBET (Community Based Eco Tourism initiative) means that
the facilities are monitored by the CBET committee, they are being cleaned regularly, and
that facility owners share a portion of their revenues with the community fund, allowing
the project to become sustainable. Bookings are made on a
rotation basis to ensure business is shared equally among
the accommodation providers. However, visitors may also
choose their preferred guest house or home stay.
Sala Don Khone Ecolodge
Experience a homestay in one of the ecolodge along the river with beautiful
landscape scenery of river and mountains and let yourself treated well by the friendly Laotian staff.
Our SuppliersEat
KOTO Hanoi Restaurant Established by ""Know One, Teach One"" (KOTO Australia) a vocational training organisation for street and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam.The multi-level restaurant serves as professional platform for KOTO trainees to fine tune their skills in hospitality service and culinary arts while at the same time providing guests with a warm and charming venue to enjoy fantastic food and service prepared by disadvantaged youth.
Romdeng Restaurants Phnom PenhRomdeng restaurant belongs to TREE, a global alliance of training restaurants offering its partners in the NGO world access to established high quality standards of practice in the field of social enterprise and extensive support in implementing those. TREE restaurants are based upon a highly successful model of social business which provides not only positive beneficiary impact but also customer satisfaction and enhanced sustainability for the organization. A true taste of Cambodia in cuisine and décor, Romdeng serves Cambodian
food that ranges from almost forgotten recipes from the provinces to contemporary creative Cambodian cuisine.
Marum Restaurant Siem ReapAlso belonging to TREE, Marum Restaurant is located in Cambodia's premier tourist destination, Siem Reap.Featuring a winning mix of creative local cuisine, Marum is named
after the Moringa, or 'Tree of life' - very appropriate, as customers will be enjoying a fantastic dining experience that helps build a new life for the
students in training there!
Example
Our Suppliers
Farming & Fishing Eco Tour Hoi An provides travelers with a close-up and intimate exposure to both the local farming and fishing communities.
Leisurely cycling along country roads witnessing local Vietnamese
rural life first hand, discovering all manner of photo opportunities
- coming and visiting a beautiful organic vegetable village,
watering and planting vegetable, hoeing a soil with local
farmer, riding a water buffalo in a rice paddy field; seeing
ducks swimming along the rice farm or farmers tending
their crops.
Experiencing the friendliness of the local people greeting you along the
way; boarding on Hoi An Eco-tour bamboo boat for a river cruise to meet and engage with local
fishermen and enjoy a hands-on experience of traditional net fishing.
This tour provides you with a cultural window into the ways of life of both our farming and fishing communities.
Experience
Our Suppliers
The local community in Cat Ba’s Viet Hai Fishing Village make a meagre living from cultivating pearls and catching
seafood, with only limited tourism and agricultural activities being carried out by the locals. As a result, the
community have limited access to vegetables, as they don’t grow them themselves, plus it is expensive to purchase
them from the mainland.
By establishing and monitoring the green farm in Viet Hai The Au Co is able to guarantee a
year-round supply of 100% organic locally-sourced, high quality agricultural produce for its
passengers to enjoy.
Simultaneously, Au Co Organic Farm is enabling the community of Viet Hai village to diversify
their local economy and helping them to be more independent, by reducing their reliance on
‘importing’ more expensive vegetables from outside the village.
Also, the Project helps to increase the awareness of local people on environmental issues as well
as living standards of Viet Hai villagers.
Experience
Our Suppliers
Experience
With Eco Sea Project Nam Dinh, travelers will visit
some of the biggest bonsai villages in Vietnam,
also showcasing the green ‘Temple of
Literature’; witness farmers at their daily
work on salt fields; enjoy your time with
bird-watching at the Xuan Thuy National
Park or get familiar with the local fisherman’s life.
Other local highlights are the countryside
museum and the Ninh Cuong church.
Our Suppliers
ExperienceEstablished in 2008, Koh Trong community-based eco tourism project aims to
make a positive impact on the island landscape and the living conditions
of the locals.
A 9 kilometers (6 miles) loop road around the island's perimeter
provides the perfect opportunity to explore the area by bike or horse
cart. Visitors come across traditional villages, fruit orchards and rice
fields while observing the daily rituals and routines of the traditional
village life.
The 'Reforestation Project' gives you the chance to plant a tree in your
name and help to enrich the flora of the island.
Our SuppliersExperience
Elephant Valley Project (E.L.I.E) Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment
Jack Highwood, a passionate animal lover and
vegan, set up a camp in the jungle to give old
and mistreated elephants a dignified life,
after they were abandoned by their
owners or saved from their misery. Unlike
other camps, elephants are not tourist
attractions here and you are not allowed to ride
the animals, but rather can get to know them by
spending time alongside the gracious animals. Explore the jungle home of two
families of elephants and learn about these pachyderms, the local mahouts
and the forest.
Our Suppliers
The Bokeo Nature Reserve of 123.000 hectares forest
in is rich in biodiversity, birds, insects, and mammals
including populations of black gibbons, bears, tigers,
and migrating populations of wild buffalo and
elephants.
Thanks to a network of zip lines and tree houses, traveler will
'fly' over the forest to meet the wildlife with Gibbon Experience - Eco Tourism Forest
Conservation Project.
The funds received are reinvested to protec the forest.
Experience
Our Suppliers
BeyondGuideAcknowledged as the company's most valuable assets and the ambassador
to travelers, HG Travel carefully selects and fosters our own
in-house guides.
Our in-house guides frequently receives in-house trainings to
strenghten their profound destination knowledge and service
engagement. In return, HG Travel receives mostly good feedbacks
from travelers in return. Furthermore, our in-house guides have
been honored with several guide awards in the past by local
organization and oversea partners.
Our Suppliers
But also the small things matter and a sustainable approach lays in the
details. Meaning even the choice of which water brand, not to use
disposable cold towels and minimising waste are essential. The HG
quality control team commits to this task as one of their prime directive,
searching for areas of important in the interest of our environment and
the clients expeierence.
Beyond
Our Team
“Travel for People”, simply like its name, enables people who couldn’t travel by themselves
giving them new experience, hope and motivation for a brighter life in future.
Sustainability starts within! Thus, we are proud that we an active team of volunteers that drive our in house CSR program HG for People. The activities are split in small teams under several themes like Travel for People, Smiles for People, Food for People and Emergency Care.
Travel for people
56
Tourist sites where children had visited
Teambuilding games during the whole trip
30 Million VND total funds that T4P had raised
36Numbers of children enjoyed the trip83
Days to prepare for the trip
1000k ++
16Numbers of active volunteers
Smiles & Happiness
“Food for People” aims to provide foods for the deserving poor who are
struggling for their warm meals every day. Those might be orphans, homeless,
handicapped, poor families or children in remote areas.
Food for peopleOur Team
100Kg The weight that volunteers have to carry on during trekking
10kmDistance that volunteers had trekked
23Number of volunteers
190Number of people that we have served meal
10Hours is total travelling time for voulunteer to reach Dan May village
Million dong have been raised from “Clap Your Hands” campaign
11,7
"Emergency Care" aimes to help people in case of force majeure cases like
�oodings, disasters… by fund-raising activities to immediately respond and
support the a�ected people.
Emergency Care
Our Team
2 streams volunteers had to cross by
40+ active volunteers & more than 50 donors
58 poor families in 3 villages
1000+ new blankets, clean warm coats, wool hats, scarves, socks, gloves, etc.
With the hope to bring more happiness, smiles to unlucky people with small projects
such as: bring music, caring to hospital, retirement house, orphan center, Cinema night,
Make a wish come true…
Our Team
Smiles for People