Tourism Union Indochina’s Responsible Travel Policy

As well as having offices in Asia, Tourism Union Indochina has offices in several cities across 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 Tailormade travel arrangements. Our presence in Asia also makes us more responsible as we can more effectively implement this policy.

The Tourism Union Indochina philosophy is premised on a belief that Small Group Journey and Tailormade 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 the most valuable assets in our organisation are our staff, and endeavour to train, treat and remunerate staff in accordance with this belief.
• We staff our Tourism Union Indochina Asian offices with local people, wherever possible.
• Our bases in Asia make it more practical for us to demand that suppliers act in accordance with responsible travel principles. 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 firmly believe that our emphasis on Small Group Journey and Tailormade travel (with a focus on local experiences) allows opportunities for cultural exchange and the dissemination of information between travellers and local people.
• We intentionally avoid the trappings of mass tourism such as organised shopping stops, dining exclusively at hotel restaurants, and sightseeing from large buses only.
• A number of our Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia itineraries include home-stay, farm and ecolodge experiences, allowing opportunities for social interaction and the sharing of ideas across people from different backgrounds.

We encourage you to look at our full Responsible Travel Policy, which outlines many of the responsible travel initiatives Tourism Union Indochina is involved in. We also encourage you to refer to our Guide to Responsible Travel, containing traveller tips for more ‘responsible’ travel in Asia, and our ‘Donating for a Cause’ information, which suggests ways you too can give something back to developing Asia.