Programme 2010 - 2011

Responsible Tourism Trends

International tourists and tour operators are increasingly seeking tourism products and services that meet high socio-cultural and environmental standards. Especially European and North-American markets are highly motivated to travel in a responsible way. Chris Thompson, Travelife Sustainability Manager and Responsible Tourism Coordinator of FTO (Federation of Tour Operators), expressed that in the United Kingdom "at lease 2/3 of people walking into a travel agency are looking for authenticity, they are looking for something being put back into the local destination, and that we are actually enhancing livelihoods". Similar conclusions are drawn in SNV’s recent publication on the Responsible Tourism market: “Customers demand authenticity, dynamic and interactive experiences, and environmentally and (to a lesser extent) socially responsible practices”.  Increased publicity on sustainability issues, especially those pertaining to global warming and poverty alleviation, has heightened consumer awareness on the importance of responsible purchases. Consumers are rightly demanding that tourism businesses operate as responsible members of the community. As a result, a growing number of large international tour operators aims to match their product offer to this market. “70% of international tour operators consider ‘sustainable’ and ‘responsible’ tourism important to the quality of experience they are able to offer their customers”, according to a global study by FTO (Federation of Tour Operators)”.

In destination countries such as Cambodia, these international tour operators are looking to partner with local enterprises that promote comparable business management. This creates new opportunities for business links and serves as a marketing tool for Cambodian Responsible Tourism companies. Secretary of State from the Ministry of Tourism H.E. Kousoum Saroeuth said that “This is a good chance for tourism private sector in Cambodia to target and make profit from the responsible tourism market”. To accomplish that Cambodia needs to increase its focus on “responsible tourism” to keep up with foreign travellers and capture a growing market. These tourists want to ensure that their tourism experience impacts positively on the local host communities and environment. International tourists and tour operators are increasingly seeking tourism products and services that meet high socio-cultural and environmental standards.

According to a Responsible Market Survey in Cambodia 2010 by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, an average of 45% of international tourists that visit Cambodia consider it highly important for tourism suppliers to provide information about local customs, employ local people, and use local products and services. In addition, an average of 35% of tourists surveyed also prefer using service providers who assist local communities, practice fair trade, contribute to protect natural environment, and use environmentally friendly transports. This same study revealed that tourists are willing to pay extra for an experienced guide from the local community (78%), for a tour that contributes to a community or environmental project (76%), for a tour operator with ethical and sustainable practices in the destination (60%), and for local products or souvenirs that were purchased under fair trade practices or labels (67%).

To maintain the vitality of the tourism industry, ensure continued quality experiences of tourists, and optimize the quality of life in host destinations, it is important that everyone in the industry join together to support the promotion of more responsible tourism. Those tourism operators that have established successful responsible business practice will be better equipped and positioned to respond to increased market competition. Mr. Stefan Voogel, General Manager of Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh referred to global trends, stating that “In 10 years, anyone who does not practice responsible tourism business, will be out of business.”

About the Responsible Travel Programme

The Responsible Travel (RT) initiative[i] combines raising awareness, training and capacity-building, with a comprehensive package of market-based incentives, including business-to-business and business-to-consumer linkages with domestic and international markets.

SNV in Cambodia has collaborated with the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA) to support selected members with the design and implementation of business solutions that allow them to develop and manage responsible tourism services. The Responsible Travel Cambodia Programme took place from September 2010 until June 2011.

Aim and Objectives of the programme:

The ultimate GOAL of the Responsible Travel Cambodia Programme was to provide new, modern solutions for the challenges facing tourism businesses today, including increased competitiveness in the rapidly changing global tourism industry. By strengthening tourism business in Cambodia, the programme also aimed at increasing benefits of the poor and minimizng environmental, socio-cultural damages related to the practice of tourism related activities.

The programme has provided a strategic approach to enable tour operators to benefit from the practices of responsible business management. With assistance, the companies have identified and selected the most suitable responsible business solutions that will strengthen their companies’ products and services and bring companies a powerful competitive advantage. In addition, by helping the Cambodian tourism businesses to integrate and apply responsible practices into their business practices, these enterprises begin to understand that a responsible approach not only helps companies to gain competitive advantage and develop more authentic products, but will also  establish cooperative relations with communities, increase benefits to the poor communities and contribute to environmental and cultural conservation of the destinations. In the end, acting responsibly helps to ensure the long-term quality of tourism destinations, which in turn also helps to guarantee business viability.

Participants of the programme

This first national Responsible Travel Programme was open for application from all tour operators and tour companies in Cambodia, who have completed business licences, show strong willingness and commitment to responsible practices, and are members  of CATA.

Through competitive selection, 7 companies with a clear motivation and a strong commitment were selected to enter the training and coaching programme for duration of 9 months from October 2010 to June 2011.  Companies that participated in the Responsible Travel Cambodia Programme are:

• ·         Asia Explorer Travel
• ·         Buffalo Tours
• ·         Camroads Travel
• ·         Diethelm Travel
• ·         Eurasie Travel
• ·         Great Angkor Tours
• ·         Intrepid Cambodia

Programme Process

Every business is different. Therefore we have worked intensively with each individual company to identify appropriate responsible solutions.

Through analysis of business approaches of each company, the programme has provided the 7 Tourism Companies with series of training and coaching on responsible products/services development and support to assist them to integrate responsible tourism principles into their activities and management practices. Throughout the programme, the participating companies have been regularly monitored to support them with challenges they faced and to ensure that the responsible practices have been applied.

As a reward for their strong commitment and pro-active integration of responsible practices, the programme then provided marketing support  to the businesses that will strengthen the competitive advantage of the companies. The marketing support included themes such as business to business linkages, access to international tour operators and promotion in national and international markets through the use of new social media.

The Result

The 7 selected tour companies have pro-actively implemented responsible practices in their business operations. As a result, various responsible tour itineraries are now being promoted and the companies are committed to continue exploring new ways to make their practices more responsible.

In order to achieve sustainable success, responsible practices should become fully integrated into the daily operations and become part of the core business. It will require time to establish a corporate culture of doing business differently. These seven enterprises have made some huge first steps and will keep challenging themselves to remain the frontrunners of responsible tourism in Cambodia.