Northern Vietnam and Yunnan vacation

Planet

Group sizes: By offering genuinely small group tours, with a maximum of 12 persons per group, we believe we significantly reduce the impact of tourism on both local communities and the environment. This also allows us to stay at smaller, independently run accommodation and eco-style resorts as well as using authentic local cafes and restaurants. Additionally, this increases genuine interaction with said communities as well as spreading tourist revenue to local enterprises which wouldn't usually benefit.

Examples of hotels and resorts featuring on the tour include family-run lodges and guesthouses in Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang, Jianshui and Yuanyang and an eco-resorts in Sapa. We also encourage all hotels featured on our tour to adopt genuinely environmentally friendly practices and hotels are also encouraged to provide free drinking water refills. (Reusable water flasks can be provided to guests on request.)

Information: Small group sizes also result in a higher guide/customer ratio thus improving supervision, individual assistance and sharing of relevant information. This facilitates the explanation of sustainable tourism practices to help guests gain a wider understanding of our style of tourism that focuses on learning, genuine interaction with the local communities, reciprocity and cultural exchange processes. We feel it is essential for guests to be aware of the potential impact of tourism on the local society, culture and environment, as well as behaving and dressing appropriately with respect to and appreciation of the varying local customs, mores and traditions of both Vietnam and China plus an understanding of the ecology of areas visited.

Destinations: We combine the well-known tourist sites with many off-the-beaten-track, rarely visited destinations thus diverting tourist revenue and contact with responsible tourism into areas not usually benefiting as well as providing a more authentic view of the region visited.

Ecologically friendly travel: All longer transfers on the tour are by electric train, while electric minibuses are used for shorter journeys. The Vietnam and China tour is entirely overland with no domestic flights included.

People

Local Economy
All accommodation used on the tour is independently and locally owned and staffed. Several, such as Sean’s Spring Guesthouse and Bivou Boutique are also family-run establishments while it is our policy to deliberately select accommodation with genuine eco-friendly and sustainable policies. Furthermore, inclusive tour meals are taken in independent and locally owned restaurants and cafes.

Our guests are encouraged to buy and use local products and services as much as possible in order to support and stimulate the local economy and guides are instructed not to take guests to tourist souvenir stores where commission is paid.

Visits to local villages feature in Bac Ha, Sapa, Yuanyang, Tiger Leaping Gorge and Shangri La and we endeavour to select villages which are not on any ‘standard’ tourist routes. Small sized groups also ensures that such village visits remain low-key and low-impact.

Local community-based tourism schemes include a visit to a family-run tofu making enterprise in Jianshui.

Employment, inclusivity and diversity
All local personnel, (guides, drivers, agents etc) are either citizens of northern Vietnam or Yunnan while all local guides employed are from the local communities. We ensure that all staff members – full-time, free-lance and temporary local guides are paid at least the legal minimum wage while tip ‘kitties’ are organised for staff members to supplement wages.

Local awareness: By explaining our methods and the reasons behind them local agents, guides and hotels are encouraged by us to adopt further responsible tourism practices themselves and guides and drivers are provided with additional training in this respect.

Both ourselves and our local partners employ strategies to offer employment without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation or nationality.
We consider our tours to be LGBT-friendly and are also open to guests of any age group including those of limited mobility. Vegetarian, vegan, lactose-intolerant, gluten-free diets are catered for.

Local community-based tourism schemes include a visit to a family-run tofu making enterprise in Jianshui and village visits in Yuanyang and Tibet (Shangri La.)