BUFFALO TOURS A LOCAL RESPONSIBLE TOUR OPERATOR

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