BUFFALO TOURS A LOCAL RESPONSIBLE TOUR OPERATOR
BUFFALO TOURS A LOCAL RESPONSIBLE TOUR OPERATOR
BUFFALO TOURS A LOCAL RESPONSIBLE TOUR OPERATOR
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Buffalo Tours<br />
A Local Responsible Tour Operator<br />
Company Background<br />
Buffalo Tours was founded in 1994 as a small tour operator for adventure travel. The company’s<br />
founder, Dr.Tran Trong Kien, left his profession to start Buffalo Tours. An active promoter of local<br />
empowerment and sustainable development,<br />
he was winner of the PATA Face of the Future<br />
Award 2007. Following his vision, Buffalo Tours is<br />
now one of the leading inbound tour operators<br />
and destination management companies in<br />
Indochina, in addition to its recent expansion<br />
into Thailand.<br />
Buffalo Tours single-handedly developed the<br />
region of Mai Chau for trekking and introduced<br />
the first sea kayaking tours in Halong Bay in<br />
1997. Other operating areas include cultural<br />
tours, family holidays, luxury tours , “off the<br />
beaten track” trekking and multi-country cycling<br />
tours, special interest holidays, incentives,<br />
and volunteer and educational travel. tours.<br />
Carrying out responsible business practices is<br />
a key concern, with particular attention being<br />
paid to ecological, socio-historical and micro-economic aspects. The company’s philosophy is “to do<br />
the seemingly impossible, to choose paths others fear to tread and to empower the local community”.<br />
Sustainable Tourism Initiatives at Buffalo Tours<br />
Guidelines for Responsible Travel<br />
To inform and educate its customers about the principles of responsible tourism, Buffalo Tours has<br />
developed the “Guidelines for Responsible Travel,” outlining standards of appropriate behaviour and<br />
are subdivided into three main areas with several sub-topics:<br />
1. Cultural Issues<br />
• respecting cultural differences<br />
• assisting the locals in their understanding of western culture<br />
• dress standards<br />
• swimming and sunbathing<br />
• etiquette – the all-important “saving face”<br />
• answering questions<br />
• photography – still and video<br />
• prescription medicines<br />
• drugs and alcohol<br />
2. Social Issues<br />
• relationships with the people in communities which are visited<br />
• prostitution<br />
• donations and gift giving<br />
• shopping and dining<br />
• supporting local communities<br />
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3. The Environment<br />
• environmental responsibility and waste minimisation<br />
• waste<br />
• drinking water<br />
• toilet facilities<br />
• energy and water conservation<br />
• environmental degradation<br />
• wildlife<br />
Volunteer & Educational Travel<br />
Buffalo Tours was the first tour operator in<br />
Vietnam to offer volunteer and educational<br />
travel. Volunteer and educational travel is<br />
a consequence of the evolving needs of<br />
today’s travellers, who seek more meaningful<br />
holiday experiences. Buffalo Tours specializes<br />
in offering ethical volunteer and educational<br />
projects and experiences, combined with<br />
touring, for groups interested in Vietnam,<br />
Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. l . Volunteers<br />
support the communities throughbuilding<br />
projects (such as schools, kindergartens,<br />
bridges, wells and toilets), renovation projects<br />
(such as maintenance and repair to orphanage<br />
facilities or communities affected by Agent<br />
Orange) medical treks, assisting local staff in<br />
disabled children’s centres, and interactive<br />
educational experiences (such as basket<br />
weaving, cooking, fishing and farming with a<br />
local community).<br />
One of our most successful products has<br />
been the Seuang River Experience. Exclusive<br />
to Buffalo Tours, this sustainable community<br />
tourism project operates outside Luang<br />
Prabang. The company is currently working<br />
on developing similar models in other areas to<br />
spread the benefits further field.<br />
The company is not a volunteer placement<br />
agency, and avoids offering English teaching<br />
programs (not suitable for groups and they do<br />
not provide curriculums for individual travellers). The interests and impact on the community through<br />
volunteer involvement is the number one priority, and projects are based on where the<br />
greatest need and greatest difference can be made on a WIN WIN WIN basis.<br />
The WIN WIN WIN system is based on the community involved receiving<br />
assistance in the most ethical way possible (in conjunction with our FIVE Code<br />
of Ethics), the consumer receiving an educational and beneficial personal<br />
experience from interacting with local communities, and the company<br />
benefiting financially through the travel component of the trip ( n o<br />
profit is made through the volunteer project portion and the budgets<br />
are completely transparent).<br />
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Buffalo Tours FIVE Codes of Ethics for Volunteer & Educational Travel<br />
Poverty Alleviation: travel that empowers the host community to reduce poverty through economic<br />
and non-economic benefits for ownership of infrastructure, income generation and improved<br />
education and health care.<br />
Cultural Preservation: travel<br />
that instills pride in the host<br />
community by providing respect<br />
and encouragement for the<br />
dynamic growth of local customs,<br />
knowledge and crafts.<br />
Environmental Protection: travel<br />
that offers sensible alternatives<br />
to global and local impacts by<br />
providing guests with options<br />
for carbon, energy and waste<br />
reduction.<br />
Community Involvement: travel<br />
that allows guests in depth<br />
interaction within a community<br />
to create new perspectives of our<br />
world through the eyes of their<br />
host.<br />
Curriculum Enhancement: travel that creates learning opportunities that directly support a school,<br />
university or organizations learning objectives.<br />
The concept of “volunteer and educational travel ” was developed through the company’s support of<br />
the Binh Luc orphanage, located 90 minutes south of Hanoi. In the beginning, the volunteer trips were<br />
not actively marketed but after Buffalo Tours had been approached by a number of different agencies<br />
asking for more volunteer tourism programmes they realised that this could become a wholly new<br />
business field for the region. In the second half of 2007, more volunteering projects were drafted,<br />
included a highly successful annual medical trek run in conjunction with an American university.<br />
To avoid competitive situations, volunteers only perform work which cannot be done or would not be<br />
provided by locals, such as carrying out construction projects which would not have been conducted<br />
otherwise. Group projects and experiences are fully customized to their goals, budgets and time<br />
restrictions, however a minimum of 5-7 days is recommended. Volunteers often work on a defined<br />
project, such as building a classroom for one week and seeing the outcome in the end, however bigger<br />
projects such as our recent Po Nowan Suspension Bridge in Laos was split up between a number of<br />
groups to complete.The necessary materials are funded through the volunteer’s payments.<br />
Buffalo Tours developed a list of criteria for projects to be selected as volunteering<br />
sites. Some of the criteria include:<br />
• The project/organisation/community must be willing to be supported<br />
• Projects must be transparent and not corrupt. Institutions, such<br />
as orphanages and old people’s homes, must be well-run a n d<br />
the residents must be well-treated. This can only be ensured<br />
by site visits and conversations with all of the people,<br />
not with just the leaders.<br />
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To ensure a mutually beneficial<br />
experience, a Buffalo Tours staff<br />
member contacts the community or<br />
organisation some weeks ahead of<br />
every volunteer placement to clarify<br />
what the project’s current needs<br />
are and which fields of activity the<br />
volunteers will be best suited. Where<br />
several volunteer groups visit the<br />
same place several times a year – the<br />
Buffalo Tours associates make sure<br />
that the volunteers do not disturb<br />
the project but contribute to it in a<br />
meaningful way. Buffalo Tours keeps<br />
track of where the last group stopped<br />
working, so that the next group can<br />
continue from that point.<br />
As group projects and experiences are fully customized, volunteers do not necessarily need former<br />
experience, however the company can design anything to match the backgrounds and interests of<br />
the group to make it as relevant as possible. In addition, a list with do’s and don’ts is handed out to<br />
all participants to help them to understand and respect the local behaviour and customs. At the end<br />
of their stay, volunteers are requested to fill in a feedback form, which helps Buffalo Tours evaluate<br />
the customers’ experiences and identify further needs for future participants. Buffalo Tours does not<br />
make any profit through the volunteer placements, because all the money the clients pay for the<br />
project is transferred directly to the community or organization.<br />
Destination Development<br />
In 1994, Buffalo Tours started the tourism development of the Mai Chau region, which is located<br />
about three hours southwest of Hanoi. The scenic minority region was particularly suitable for trekking<br />
and the development of this basic tourism infrastructure took place in close collaboration with<br />
the local people. At the beginning, accommodation was only offered in home stays but over the<br />
years, hostels and other infrastructure developed, building a new destination for tourists and new<br />
income stream for locals through the financial and social support of Buffalo Tours.<br />
Social Projects<br />
Water Buffalo Fund<br />
The water buffalo forms an integral part of life in rural Vietnam. Sadly, many buffalo succumb to disease,<br />
which can easily cost more than a year’s income for an entire village. To assist farming families<br />
experiencing extreme financial hardship due to personal circumstances out of their control,<br />
Buffalo Tours established the Water Buffalo Fund, which donates a water buffalo to the<br />
most family in need in the Mai Chau region each year. In each instance, the village<br />
chief of a selected community is consulted and the recommended families are personally<br />
interviewed, before a decision is made on who to donate to. It is Buffalo<br />
Tours hope to expand the Donate a Water Buffalo Program across Indochina and<br />
Thailand in the future, offering the opportunity for customers to make voluntary<br />
donations.<br />
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Medical Treks<br />
Vietnam’s ethnic minorities inhabit some of the most mountainous and remote regions in the country,<br />
where medical facilities are rare. The medical treks designed to draw volunteers in the medical<br />
profession, including students to trek alongside local doctors and medical staff through the rainforest<br />
of northern Vietnam, providing medical care in the remote villages, where people rarely ever see a<br />
foreigner. All of the medical records and data is inputted by volunteers from Buffalo Tours each year,<br />
to help contribute towards research on the health of ethnic minorities in the region.<br />
Benefits<br />
Over the years, Buffalo Tours has grown to become one of the leading inbound, locally-owned tour<br />
operators in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and most recently Thailand. Their strategy of working with the<br />
local community to provide environmentally sustainable, off-the-beaten-track adventures has paid<br />
off very well. There is an increasing market of clients who seek unique holiday experiences and are<br />
mindful of preserving the environment and local culture. Buffalo Tours’ efforts towards responsible<br />
tourism practices have been rewarded with the Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards 2007 and<br />
the PATA Face of the Future Award 2007, which was awarded to the company’s CEO, to name a few.<br />
This generated considerable publicity for the company, leading to a growing awareness of Buffalo<br />
Tours as a socially responsible tour operator.<br />
Outlook<br />
Buffalo Tours sees the further development of the volunteer and educational travel sector as one of<br />
the key growth areas of their business, based on industry trends and consumer demand. It is a growing<br />
business, as more and more of today’s travellers seek meaningful experiences during their trips.<br />
As a nascent business, Buffalo Tours works to constantly evolve along with the market, monitoring<br />
and refining all of its initiatives, to continuously improve performance.<br />
The companyhas expanded its full time volunteer and educational team over the last twelve months,<br />
and is continuing to research and develop more and more product options across Indochina and<br />
Thailand.<br />
Contact<br />
Buffalo Tours<br />
Ms. Christine Andrews<br />
Marketing Manager<br />
Mail:<br />
christine.andrews@buffalotours.com<br />
Phone: +84 4 3828 0702 ext. 224<br />
Address:<br />
94 Ma May Street, Hanoi, Vietnam<br />
Website:<br />
www.buffalotours.com<br />
Understanding Cultural Differences: Dos & Donts<br />
Volunteering Code of Conduct<br />
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