North and South Vietnam tour, in style

Planet

Vietnam is a unique country with plenty of authentic nature and culture and we give our best that it stays that way. We put a lot of thought in working with local providers that care for our planet and its people. We promote excursions that foster a more sustainable tourism and try to maintain small-group sizes as much as as possible to limit negative environmental impacts in accordance to the carrying capacity of the visited site.

Wildlife:
Our partners in Vietnam have started to promote some Wildlife conservation projects into their program, such as Cat Tien National Park, Cuc Phuong National Park and Con Dao National Park (Sea Turtles laying eggs). We don't support excursions or tours where wild animals are abused (snake farm, crocodile farm in the Mekong Delta). For your tour, we make sure our local guides receive training in how to leave a lower impact and actively promote nature conservation practices such as reducing noise, disturbance, not feeding animals, not bringing any rubbish, etc. Especially along Halong Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site with two important ecosystems and home to many endemic species, we will make sure to preserve that natural wonder through tight waste controls.

Responsible accommodation:
Whenever possible we promote that our guests stay at places that support sustainability and community. For example you will stay with the Hilton Garden Inn in Hanoi. The Hilton group is the first global hospitality company to be certified for Energy Management, for Environmental Management and for Quality Management for all their hotels. They continually work on reducing their energy consumption, water use, waste water management, recycling, reducing their waste, they work with soap recyclers to repurpose soaps, they collaborate with WWF to reduce food waste in the supply chain and work with local suppliers as much as possible.

Building:
We promote accommodation and excursions that respect and preserve cultural heritage. For example by going on your tour in the Ancient Town of Hoi An, you will support this exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century with buildings and streets reflecting the influences of combined indigenous and foreign heritage.

Waste & Energy:
We are giving our best to keep the extra unneeded waste to a minimum in all our tours through our “bring it in, bring it out” policy for litter and rubbish such as food packaging and recycling wherever possible.

In our UK office, we do not produce a glossy brochure, but concentrate on a comprehensive website, and provide as much information to our travellers as possible electronically, reducing the use of paper and inks. Our local partner offices in Vietnam use only 2-side printing and pass codes of good environmental practices (the codes for the label ATR – Agir pour un Tourisme Responsable) on to guides, suppliers and partners.

Whenever motorized forms can be avoided, we recommend the use of bicycles or walking to our guests. For your city tour in Hanoi for example, you will go on a walking tour and on a cyclo ride on a cyclo rickshaw, a small-scale local means of transport, human-powered by pedalling and hence reducing carbon emissions.

People

We encourage authentic trips that will benefit the local community as much as possible, just as much as their warm wisdom will benefit you. Whenever possible we work with local guides and local providers.

We value authentic local experiences, therefore we include home meals, local markets, local shops and food stops, cooking classes, or handicraft workshops with locals in your tour and many hands-on experiences. In order to preserve cultural heritage, we don't recommend guests to buy antiques or rare objects from ancestors or ethnic villages.

On your trip you can live special experiences which will help keep local wisdoms and traditions alive, encouraging local artisan and culture. For example you will visit Ben Tre within the Mekong Delta, a town only accessible by boat where tourists are still rare and where you can mix with the open and friendly locals. You can observe traditional techniques of making bricks and grass mats or try local rice paper or coconut candies, which will all benefit and encourage the local community and the preservation of cultural heritage.

You will also explore and help local life on your cooking class in Hoi An, including the discovery of the local market, the cooking school’s vegetable gardens and the Vietnamese art of plate carving.

By staying at the New World Hotel during your time in Saigon, you will support a group that actively gives back to nature and the local and global community. Activities range from financial support to victims of natural disasters and educational opportunities for children, to committing to recycling and conservation efforts and providing career-enhancing training for all associates. The group also provides special support to the non-profit organisation Room to Read, by contributing funds which enable 100 young women to continue their secondary school education in Cambodia.

Our local partners also promote a project called LAK Tented Camp in central highland (Buon Ma Thuot City, Daklak province) which will mostly employ local M'Nong ethnic to work in restaurants, housekeeping, gardening, or as tour guides… These are untrained people and can soon access to constant training. We believe by supporting these structures and traveling with us, you will help provide more job opportunities and bring a positive social impact.

In times of natural disasters (flood, storm) our local partner companies often provide clothes, money or rice to help the communities in difficulties. They also provide volunteering & charity possibilities for you, for example you can organise some games or hands-on lessons to make crafts with a local charity, or you can choose to spend a day or more participating in daily tasks or renovation work at a charity or organisation (prepare the meal for the children, repair facilities, repaint the house, plant trees to make their environment better).

We make sure our guests receive the best local welcome with our welcome letter and through our guides. Our local guides have an annual guide training, and this is one of the topics. For some tours, we teach guests some Vietnamese survival phrases so when they come to visit a local house, they can do the greetings in Vietnamese.