Our Responsible Travel Belief Statement

The TOURISM UNION INDOCHINA (FORMERLY KNOWN AS TUI TRAVEL )

TUI practices a thorough, realistic Responsible Travel Policy. We believe that travel

should entail an exchange of knowledge and perspectives, a sharing of wealth, and a genuine appreciation of Asia’s beautiful natural environments. This philosophy underpins the heart and soul of our style of travel. It drives all that we strive to deliver to our travellers, and shapes the contact we have with our supplier colleagues in Asia. We recognise that poorly planned itineraries or poorly informed tourists contribute less to cross-cultural understanding and less to the livelihoods of local people. We also recognise that we largely work in a developing part of the world. Political and social factors sometimes impede the short term implementation of our responsible travel initiatives, so we do not make blanket, unrealistic statements about the achievability of our goals – doing so would make us ‘irresponsible’. We aspire to short or medium term implementation of our policies where this is realistic and to incremental change where there are constraints of a governmental or cultural nature.

Our Responsible Travel Policy

As well as having offices in Vietnam, the Cambodia and the Thailand,

TUI has offices in several cities in Indochina. Our direct presence in Asia means that

we are much better able to control the content of our itineraries, the actions of our suppliers, and the style of our Small Group Journey and tailored travel arrangements. In short, our offices in Asia give us leverage in implementing our Responsible Travel Policy. Arguably, our presence in Asia also makes us more ‘responsible’ for implementing this policy – this is a responsibility we embrace.

Social – our TUI staff

“Our Responsible Travel Policy begins with a mention of our staff, integral to our Responsible Travel Policy and a key to its implementation.”

  • We firmly believe that the most valuable assets in our organisation are our staff, and endeavour to train, treat and remunerate staff in accordance with this
  • We staff our TUI Asian offices with local people, wherever
  • Our Asian offices have a long term aim of filling management roles with competent local
  • We train our TUI local staff in internationally-useful skills, which provide a base for meaningful and life-long
  • We implement cross-cultural local staff exchange across our Vietnam, Cambodia and Australian
  • We provide staff in our TUI Asian offices with above industry-standard remuneration packages, often including social
  • We employ foreign tour leaders who live and work in Asia on at least a medium term basis, and who are committed to embracing and learning about the countries in which they

This policy is updated annually and was last updated on April 07, 2008

  • We train our tour leaders and local guides to share their knowledge of cultural and other local issues in a balanced, informative Our Cambodia offices directly employ and contract local guides, and our Cambodia and Vietnam offices train guides in line with our Responsible Travel Policy.
  • Our Asian offices endeavour to increase the number of contracted female

Social – our operations

“Our offices in Asia put us in the special position of being able to implement most effectively our Responsible Travel Policy.”

  • Our TUI Asia offices operate legally and comply fully with local tax, labour, and tourism laws and
  • Our office bases in Asia make it easier for us to lobby local authorities and the tourism industry on matters pertaining to responsible
  • Our bases in Asia make it more practical for us to demand that suppliers act in accordance with responsible travel We have a history of demanding

 

responsible behaviour from our suppliers and of working with our suppliers to develop standards in the tourism industry.

  • We do not knowingly work with suppliers who flagrantly breach local laws or regulations or who act
  • We believe that it can be better to work with responsible foreign-owned suppliers than with irresponsible local
  • We endorse the ‘Global Code of Ethics for Tourism’ published by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, and visible at unwto.org/code_ethics/eng/brochure.htm In particular, we are strongly opposed to the exploitation of children and to sex tourism.
  • We practice a formal process for booking and providing services to people who are disabled or who have special

Social – our style of travel

“The TUI philosophy is premised on a belief that Small Group Journey and

tailored travel arrangements allow for more genuine experiences with local people and their environments, and allow us to avoid the offensive traits of mass tourism.”

  • We firmly believe that our emphasis on Small Group Journey and tailored travel with a focus on local experiences allows for opportunities for cultural exchange and the dissemination of information between travellers and local
  • Our Small Group Journeys comprise people of varied nationalities and walks of life, allowing for cross-cultural learning within
  • We intentionally avoid the trappings of mass tourism such as organised shopping stops, dining exclusively at hotel restaurants, and sightseeing from large buses
  • We keep our Small Group Journeys to a maximum size of 15 people, and many operate with less than this
  • We do not plan tours to destinations which cannot cope with the presence of our
  • A number of our Vietnam itineraries include home stay experiences, allowing for opportunities for social interaction and the sharing of ideas across people from different

This policy is updated annually and was last updated on April 07, 2008

  • Several of our Vietnam Small Group Journeys include a half day excursion to a local farming community in Hoi An, where our clients work the fields side by side with the farmers for an intimate insight into their daily
  • A stay at the award-winning locally-run Lisu eco-lodge near Chiang Mai is a key feature of our flagship Thailand Small Group Journey, the Thailand
  • Our Tuk Tuk Thailand Small Group Journey includes a stay at Khum Lanna, a locally operated farm which works closely with and helps to support nearby
  • Our Trails of Thailand Small Group Journey includes a stay at ‘Elephant Hills’, a landmark eco-resort set in Khao Sok National Park which is dedicated to the concepts of local village employment, waste reduction, the use of solar power, and the protection of surrounding In 2006 donated two computers to a local school project supported by Elephant Hills.
  • A key component of our Inside Laos Small Group Journey is a stay at the Kamu Lodge, which generates revenue and employment for local Kamu
  • Several of our Laos Small Group Journeys include an organised meeting with a monk, allowing for an opportunity to learn about Theravada
  • Most of our Laos Small Group Journeys include a traditional ‘baci’ welcome ceremony, enabling travellers to experience a ceremony of central importance to Lao
  • Our Highlights of Rajasthan Small Group Journey visits the Osian Camel Camp which intensively employs local people and which returns tourist revenues to local people during a monthly camel
  • The Spice of the South India Small Group Journey stays in Coconut Lagoon and Spice Village, eco-resorts which produce zero waste, and which have on-site recycling

 

  • Several of our China Small Group Journeys schedule tea visits and lunches with local minority families, allowing for cross-cultural
  • We encourage our suppliers in China to employ local guides from ethnic minority groups, especially on the Silk Road Small Group Journey and in
  • We make sure that camel and donkey rides scheduled on our Silk Road Small Group Journey use animals that are well cared
  • Our tour leaders and local guides and our city guides advise on appropriate dress code and behaviour in culturally important
  • We offer itineraries on Tonle Sap Lake (Cambodia) in conjunction with Osmose, a not for profit organisation which seeks to improve the livelihoods of people living in the Kampong Phluk fishing
  • Our visits to Tonle Sap (Cambodia) often include a visit to the Gecko Environment Centre, which teaches people about the ecological importance of Southeast Asia’s largest fresh water
  • In October 2005 we facilitated a very significant donation to the World Monument Fund in Cambodia, a not for profit organisation dedicated to the maintenance of a select number of archaeologically precious temples in

Social – TUI and traveller direct involvement in the community

“We have a record of financially supporting a number of not-for-profit organisations working in Asia and of responding generously to humanitarian crises.”

  • Angkor Hospital for Children, Siem Reap, Cambodia (which provides health care services to poor Cambodians and through which we employ a Cambodian nurse)
  • The Purkal Youth Development Society, Dehra Dun, India, (which develops life building and academic skills among disadvantaged Indian children and women)

This policy is updated annually and was last updated on April 07, 2008

  • Big Brother Mouse, Laos (which is dedicated to increasing literacy rates among Lao youth, and which has published an ‘Animals of Australia’ book financed by TUI)
  • Creativity for Humanity, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (which provides vocational training and workshop shelter facilities for disadvantaged people)
  • The Loreto Vietnam-Australia Program, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (which cares for and educates disabled children and the disadvantaged)
  • The Asian tsunami crisis (to which TUI responded with a significant aid donation)

“We encourage our travellers to patronise or financially assist numerous not-for-profit organisations.” These include causes which TUI financially supports

(immediately above) as well as:

  • Koto, Hanoi, Vietnam (a vocational training centre and restaurant staffed by disadvantaged young people)
  • The Nguyen Dinh Chieu School, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, (an organisation which is supported by the Loreto Foundation)
  • The Humanity Centre, near Hanoi, Vietnam (a retail outlet which sells embroidery and jewellery made by people from disadvantaged backgrounds)
  • The Sunrise Orphanage, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia (which seeks sponsorship of children on an ongoing basis)
  • Friends and Romdeng Restaurants, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (which trains and is staffed by disadvantaged young people)
  • The Boddhi Tree Restaurant, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (which trains and is staffed by disadvantaged young people)
  • Lotus Blanc, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (a restaurant which teaches hospitality skills to young people recruited from a rubbish dump)
  • Seeing Hands massage (a shiatsu massage service run by blind Cambodians)
  • The National Centre for Disabled Persons, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (which sells

 

souvenirs made by disabled people)

  • Made in Cambodia, Siem Reap, Cambodia (which sells items made by underprivileged Cambodians)
  • A number of schools around Siem Reap, Cambodia (to which our travellers often donate school materials)
  • Cabbages and Condoms in Bangkok and Chiang Rai (a restaurant which helps fund Thai family planning projects)
  • Jaisalmer Art Palace community cooperative in Jaisalmer, India
  • Blind masseur centres in Beijing and Shanghai

Environmental

“TUI is committed to reducing and recycling waste in its own offices and to

working with suppliers on a long term basis in the implementation of environmentally responsible initiatives.”

  • Our Vietnam Experience, Grand Adventure 27 Days and North Unveiled Small Group Journeys all stay at the Topas Ecolodge near Sapa – a unique, eco-friendly resort staffed by indigenous people from the nearby ethnic minority

This policy is updated annually and was last updated on April 07, 2008

  • At the time of writing this policy, TUI was working with consultants to establish carbon-offsetting principles for the TUI Australian, UK and USA
  • Our Australian, UK, USA, Vietnamese and Cambodian offices practise double-sided printing, and recycle printer cartridges, whenever
  • Our stand-alone offices turn off air-conditioning units when they are not required, and turn off lights and PCs when offices are not
  • We have fitted-out our offices with minimum use of hard wood
  • Much of the waste from our Cambodia offices is naturally recycled (eg. bottles and paper waste are sold to Vietnam, where it is re-used/ recycled).
  • From mid-2007 our Vietnam offices began trialing the distribution of reusable shopping bags to selected Small Group Journey
  • We schedule environmentally friendly samlor, cyclo, and rickshaw tours in Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Delhi, Chiang Mai and Beijing (drivers tend to be socio-economically disadvantaged, and so this measure also realises social and economic benefits).

Economic

“TUI is a significant employer of people in the areas in which we operate.

Our growth is directly linked to the livelihoods of people who help us to provide ground services, and is indirectly linked to the livelihoods of many more people.”

  • We are a significant investor and a significant employer of local people by virtue of the fact that we have a series of TUI offices in
  • The overwhelming majority of our suppliers (hotels, vehicle providers, guide and other suppliers) are staffed predominately with local
  • We endeavour to work with legally registered and tax compliant
  • Many of our group and tailored itineraries take people to the provinces, so tourist expenditure benefits broader geographic areas, rather than cities
  • Our tour leaders and local guides encourage travellers to purchase water from local vendors (rather than from hotel mini-bars) and to eat at local
  • We promulgate a tipping policy for local guides and drivers which rewards excellent