Responsible’ tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Laos and rightly so.
Mission
Viengchampa are serious about Responsible Tourism; it is a fundamental obligation that forms the basis for our whole mission throughout our operations in Laos. We believe that everything we do in the detailed below should be standard practice for all tour operators in Laos. Not only does this help to ensure long-term benefits for the local communities, but actually significantly enhances the truly magical experience of visiting Laos for our clients.
We visit the classic Laos sites on well trodden paths as well as exploring many less-frequented off-the-beaten-track provinces such as Phongsali, Khammouane, Savannakhet and Attapeu. As a result we feel we have an obligation to do so in a way that avoids the potential negative impacts that tourism can bring, whilst ensuring a harmonious experience for all parties involved, and especially safeguarding long-term sustainable benefits for local communities.
All of our tours to these remote regions are based on a maximum of 8 persons per tour which significantly minimizes our impact. With these small groups we are able to use minivans and local tuk tuks - as opposed to large coaches to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible, and of course minimize damage to roads and tracks. Our general impact on local way-of-life when visiting remote villages is also greatly reduced with a small group. It also means our policy of using locally run hotels and guesthouses is easy to maintain.
We have a strong desire to protect the local environment and therefore encourage tours around respected eco lodges with strong environmental policies as much as possible, and also educate our guides and staff on the importance of being environmentally friendly, both in the office and for the guides on the ground.
Economic Responsibility
First and foremost we are a local Laos operator, 99% of the staff we employ are Laos nationals. Potential clients booking through our company can be rest assured that the profits are going directly to the country they are visiting and helping the people in that country.
Many of the hotels we use are recognized eco lodges, or accommodations that channel their profits back into the local community or local environment. One key specific example of a locally owned hotel is ‘The Boatlanding Eco Lodge’ This property is locally owned, the restaurant specifically serves local food only, all purchased from the local market. The Boatlanding also has a strict policy of employing local people, often with no hospitality experience, but trained on site. Similarly, when the eco lodge was constructed, it was built using local building methods and employing only local people to build it.
Almost all our tours are based on a breakfast only basis, we encourage our clients to explore and experience different foods and restaurants by themselves, and we feel that this not only enhances our client’s experience, but also means that wealth is spread to more than just one restaurant at a particular destination. For us in particular, promoting the remote areas which currently receive mainly independent travelers, we also avoid the significant impact of imposing a group on areas not used to them. Where possible, free time is built into our itineraries at certain destinations, not only to give clients more flexibility to explore by themselves but to also minimise our impact on tourist sites, especially in remote areas.
We also encourage interactive and educational activities. One excellent example of this is a half day cooking class at Tum Tum Cheng Restaurant in Luang Prabang. Here clients experience first hand the economic benefits eating here brings, as they will accompany the head chef to the local market to purchase their food, before being taught how to prepare and cook it.
In Vientiane as one of its biggest and original supporters, we always recommend clients to eat at one of the best restaurants “Makphet” – part of the “Friends” non-profit organization which takes homeless children from the streets and then houses, educates, and provides training to eventually find them jobs in the hospitality industry.
Wherever possible we encourage tours where the fees contribute to conservation. One great example of this is our city tours to the ‘Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre’ which promotes the diverse culture of Laos’ ethnic minorities. Entrance fees contribute to research into Handicraft development, which in turn provides a regular income for ethnic minority people http://www.taeclaos.org/exhibitions.html
We also encourage clients to spend locally, as well as only using local restaurants on tour, we also include a visit to Luang Prabang Night Market, which has a wide range of good s handmade by various local people and ethnic minorities. Purchasing at the market enables the money to go direct to the producer.
For all of our walking and trekking activities in the National Protected Areas of Laos we use the provincial tourism departments. All the activities are community based and have been developed in co-operation with local stakeholders with help from foreign NGO’s such as SNV, ensuring that the proceeds go back into the local communities and not to tour operators. All guides are employed from local ethnic communities and we stay at home-stays and at specially constructed Eco-lodges in remote villages ensuring that our wealth is spread to the communities that need it most. In fact, the whole development of these activities has been to protect and sustain the local environment, and the local guides have been specifically trained in this manner. For more information about these sustainable tourism initiatives please go to: www.ecotourismlaos.com, www.luangnamtha-tourism.org, www.savannakhet-trekking.com and www.snvworld.org
Environmental Responsibility
Within the office, our staff work on paperless desks, data is stored via a main server and tour files are all stored electronically, which is an extremely innovative notion within a developing country where computers are still a relatively new concept in the work place.
Our tour packages include drinking water, which is provided using large containers to refill clients own water bottles, to reduce the use of plastic bottles. We take great care to remove all our waste from remote areas, much of which can be donated to a village to be recycled. Also, shopping at local markets and encouraging interaction between our clients and local people as much as possible we feel is beneficial to everyone.
The tours we operate in rural areas involve the ‘Ecotourism Laos’ initiative, as mentioned before where careful consideration is given towards the environment itself and minimizing any damage. Each one of our tours will support one such activity.
On tours, we promote and use Eco Lodges with strong environmental policies. A specific example of an Eco Lodge that we use is the Kingfisher Eco Lodge in southern Laos. This eco lodge was carefully designed to use local building materials and employed local people to construct it. The Eco lodge also boasts hot water supplied by solar power. All electricity is either created by solar power or hydroelectric power. Water conservation practices are followed, and eco systems are protected, including no planting of any non native plants in the lodge area. A more detailed policy can be found on http://www.kingfisherecolodge.com/policy.html
Social Responsibility
Prior to the start of a tour, our clients are advised on the cultural aspects of the country so that we are always considerate towards local way-of-life and local customs. We cover everything from dress codes and ways of eating to appropriate conduct in temples and village visits. Our guides have been trained further by us to focus on these cultural differences that foreigners perhaps would not understand the first time they visit Laos. For example is very important not to touch a child’s head - as can be the tendency in other cultures, in villages with Animist belief. We also encourage our clients to learn at least some basic phrases which are much appreciated by local people and help to enhance our client’s experience.
It is our policy that we always contribute something to everywhere we visit, especially the sometimes culturally sensitive issue of visiting small villages, which forms an integral part of many of our tours. Our groups are briefed fully on any specific cultural issues and are encouraged to split up and not impose as a group. All donations are given either to the local teacher or the village chief - certainly NOT directly to children as this practice only encourages begging, with significant negative impacts on local way of life, and also future visiting tourists. We firmly discourage the distribution of sweets for children as clients will certainly not be around for future subsequent dental care. We also ensure that we try to bring what is needed most by liaising with the local people. Some villages have enough pens and books but need some new footballs for the children, or need some help or materials to repair the local hospital or temple etc.
As a Tour Operator promoting the more remote regions, we also feel we have extra responsibility to keep our impact as small as possible whilst doing what we can to ensure tourism benefits the people that need it most.
Our company sponsors a school within a poor rural village, and make contributions to improve that school from our tours. This is been set up with full approval from the head village and villagers. We plan to extend this initiative to other villagers in the area, such is its success. We also support the publication of books for children in Laos through the excellent Big Brother Mouse. This fantastic charity produces and distributes educational books for the children of remote rural villages and we are actively involved with the distribution process through our village visits. We feel that for willing clients, visiting these places also provide an educational aspect that only adds to the whole unforgettable Laos experience - we often find that clients contribute towards these organizations even after returning home.
We also support COPE www.copelaos.org and UXO Laos www.uxolaos.org two hugely important organisations who are trying to deal with the ongoing after effects of the Secret War here in Laos. We now include as standard a visit to COPE in our half and full-day Vientiane sightseeing tour, and we visit the UXO Laos office in Phonsavanh as standard as part of our itinerary there. Clients learn about the huge ongoing problem regarding unexploded ordinance and also have the further opportunity to see the mine clearance teams at work, many voluntary donations are subsequently received by UXO Laos which significantly benefits an organisation with a very small annual budget. In Vientiane we also include the option of stopping at the Lao Disabled Womens Centre, which provides valuable training and schooling for disabled women in Laos.
Beyond Responsible Tourism
At Viengchampa we go further, we are especially proud to be directly involved with the promotion and organizing of Laos as a destination for English language teachers to travel here and undertake some voluntary teaching work, thereby providing young Laos people a rare opportunity to develop their English skills. A chronic shortage of good English teachers in the country, especially in remote areas is one of the reasons that only a tiny fraction of young people have the opportunity of a good education and subsequent job. In conjunction with organisations such as TEFL (www.tefl.co.uk) we work to encourage more qualified English language Teachers to come to Laos on their travels and participate in a genuinely rewarding and beneficial experience for all. In particular we support an English school in Phonsavanh where we also take our clients to participate in an English class as part of our itinerary, providing the students a rare opportunity to meet and practice their English with foreigners, a truly rewarding experience for everyone. For more information please contact. somphan@viengchampatour.com
We are very pleased to report that in July 2010 with our and many others help, a boys football team from this school traveled to Sweden to play in the Gothia Cup, the largest international boys football tournament. This is the first time the boys have ever left the province, let alone the country and continent. Tragically Mr Manophet the team manager and School teacher died suddenly just before the tournament, leaving both the school and football trip in jeopardy. But this incredible the journey went ahead, and the boys exceeded all expectations and just missed out on a place in the final losing in a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out. Due to the charming nature and spirit of the boys they became the most famous team in the tournament and brought home the fair play award – the only team of the 1500 or so teams to do so.
The English school has now reopened in Phonsavanh as a registered charitable organisation which we support as much as possible. We take our clients to participate in an English class as part of our itinerary, providing the students a rare opportunity to meet and practice their English with foreigners, a truly rewarding experience for everyone. We plan to expand the project to other parts of the country in the future as more funding becomes available.
Soon we will be implementing a new guide apprenticeship scheme, the first in Laos. We will be offering students from the English class in Phonsavanh sponsorship through his/her national guide training and then employment on completion of training, making a real difference to the extremely slim employment prospects of the many students in the province. It also means we can further train them specifically for our tours to ensure the correct balance between our clients wants and needs and the cultural sensitivities of traveling through Laos - our aim is for a harmonious experience for all everyone. As the school expands to different areas of the country we hope to offer this scheme to many other students around the country.
Here at Viengchampa we have our own clothes donation program set up where our office staff, friends, family and anyone else connected with us, donates their old or unwanted clothes. We then arrange for them to be delivered to some of the poorest villagers in the country in collaboration with some of our most responsible clients. For more information please contact . somphan@viengchampatour.com
Voluntourism
Viengchampa are now involved in helping setting up projects around the country where clients can now opt to do some work for a short period to make a real difference to people’s lives. As well as the English school in Phonsavan, we now have a great project in a small village not far from Luang Prabang. Working with a small local organization, clients can visit this remote village and spend the day with the villagers helping to teach English to the primary school children, and also learning and helping with everyday life activities such as cooking. Homestay accommodation is available for those wanting to immerse further into the local culture. For those staying overnight there are evening games with the children and traditional dancing and a Baci ceremony. Most children from this region cannot continue to secondary school as they are very poor and the nearest school is so far away. Helping the children learn English helps increase their future prospects, and for every guest visiting a donation is included to the village fund which is specifically geared towards education facilities such as books as well as fundamental basic needs such as medicine.
This 1day or 2day/1night project can be easily incorporated into existing itineraries that visit Luang Prabang. Currently the project is small-scale and is only available at weekends. The maximum group size is 7 people, and currently only 2 persons can overnight at the homestay. For more information please enquire when booking or contact. somphan@viengchampatour.com
There are possible future plans to build an eco-lodge to accommodate more guests, but of course this has to be done responsibly and correctly over time, in a way that benefits the village first and foremost without any negative impacts.
