Asian Trails’ executive team has just returned from the Indonesian island of Bali after a successful annual board meeting.

In between meetings, the staff enjoyed some of Bali’s best experiences, including a jungle trek and a Jeep ride through a spectacular terrain framed by volcanic backdrops. A highlight was tasting delicious Indonesian cuisine and viewing authentic cultural attractions.

Here are just a few snapshots of the occasion as our teams across the region prepare for another year of trailblazing travel.

Happy trails!

Asian Trails recently appointed eCommerce Manager Simone Persano has set out his stall to increase the sale and diversity of our online products.

In particular, Simone earmarked a focus on increased sales of multi-day and multi-country tours.

He said: “We are in a very advantageous position because not many DMCs around the world have the capabilities of Asian Trails in the sense that we are the owners of our own multi-day and multi-country products and we have invested in state-of-the-art technology which enables clients to book exceptional experiences with ease.

“I look back to my earlier years as a resort representative in Mexico when people came on all-inclusive packages and rarely left the hotel, maybe taking just one tour during a two-week break and not exploring the locality or connecting with the local people and their amazing culture and traditions.

“With the tools we have to hand, we can seamlessly supply visitors with the best experiences in destinations across Asia and also do this with a more sustainable approach.”

Simone has extensive knowledge of the tourism sector, with over 20 years employment in the industry, starting as a resort representative and progressing from customer care to roles in product design, operations and now e-commerce.

He said: “I have had the opportunity to work in the main areas of a DMC and this has given me a perfect perspective on how a product is created, developed, distributed and sold. This has equipped me with the mindset to increase our visibility in the online world.”

Another area Simone is keen to expand on is accessibility programmes.

“We have the technology to help us effectively distribute this type of product, making accessibility programmes more available and recognisable by the operators.”

Despite the global mass marketing of leisure products, Simone said there are still some products that have not penetrated every single market, such as seat in coach tours.

He said: “We are currently working on the creation of seat in coach tours for markets that have never used non-private coach tours. I have been working on these for many years because they are very popular and well established in the Italian market.

“The main issue is to use technology to help us communicate more effectively as I know there might be some agents who would like to book, but they do not have sufficient knowledge on essential excursion information, such as inclusions, non-inclusions, how this type of tour differs from a private tour and so on.”

All of the areas identified by Simone are seamlessly facilitated by our booking platform eConnect. This offers global connectivity to hotels, activities, transfers and multi-day tour reservations at the click of a button.

The portal enables us to present our online products more effectively compared to a conventional brochure, as we can update content, benchmark rates and share information instantly with online travel agencies.

eConnect also helps during negotiations with suppliers as we can show clearly how their products and services are presented to our customers.

This technology has enriched Asian Trails’ reputation as a DMC market leader, with positive feedback from stakeholders two years after the platform’s launch at the World Travel Market in London in 2022.

Simone concluded: ”Our clients have expressed great interest in the benefits of using this user-friendly and reliable technology.

“It has provided a solid foundation for us to spread awareness about our Asia-wide portfolio and it has demonstrated how easy it is to book our products. Consequently, clients can concentrate their full focus on the diverse experiences we offer – the most important face of a DMC!”

For more information about eConnect and our online products and service, feel free to reach out directly to Simone Persano.

Asian Trails recently delivered a series of sustainability workshops in collaboration with our partners at Studiosus. The aim of this educational event was to enhance awareness and facilitate discussion around responsible travel practices within the industry.

Asian Trails’ Group Sustainability Manager Ameer Virani worked alongside Studiosus’ Head of Corporate Responsibility Tony Reyhanloo to present a comprehensive training programme which spanned over four days and involved staff from two of our country offices.

Guides and team members from Asian Trails’ offices in Vientiane, Laos and Siem Reap, Cambodia participated in the event, sharing their thoughts and practical experiences of how responsible travel works on the ground. The dialogue helped to highlight important sustainability topics in each destination and what we can each do to contribute to more positive outcomes.

By engaging local supply chain stakeholders in discussions about sustainable travel, we hope to foster better understanding and encourage greater movement towards more sustainable travel in the long term.

We thank our partners at Studiosus for helping to deliver such a successful event.

For more information about Asian Trails’ commitment to responsible travel, reach out to our Responsible Travel Team.

For many people the island of Borneo portrays exotism as one of the world’s last frontiers.

I have always been fascinated by its diversity, whether visiting the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak or the Indonesian side of Kalimantan.

For nature lovers, this is one of Asia’s most interesting places to visit. Sabah, in particular, is close to my heart since I have been traveling to this destination for over 30 years.

Asian Trails has had a presence in Sabah for many years, but for different reasons we never got the chance to officially open our Kota Kinabalu office.

This all changed last week when we were honoured to finally cut the ribbons in the presence of Ms. Noredah Othman, the CEO of the Sabah Convention Bureau.

Emir Cherif, Managing Director of our Malaysia and Singapore offices, and myself were present for this special occasion, along with our Sabah team and colleagues from our Kuala Lumpur office.

Officially opening this office with Ms. Othman, Emir and the distinguished guests felt like an event surrounded by one big family. The tourism trade in Sabah is a close-knit community of great people who are proud of their state and heritage. They want nothing more than for visitors to have a fantastic stay.

This state is famous for its orangutans and proboscis monkeys and these can be viewed in rehabilitation centres and with a bit of luck, in their natural rainforest habitat. Sun bears, the smallest bears in the world, can also be seen at a sun bear conservation centre.

Sabah also has an incredible variety of birds, including distinctive hornbills. This story would be several pages long if I were to fully describe the extensive animal kingdom native to this area.

For me, the ultimate nature experience is to travel by boat from Sandakan on the Kinabatangan River and stay at one of the lodges. River safaris take people into the middle of the dense rainforest on day, as well as night time trips.

One can also go on a guided walk directly from the lodges into the jungle. Brave explorers can undertake this adventure at night.

The 130-million-year-old Danum Valley is one of the most exciting rainforests in the world to observe not just wildlife, but also an incredible array of jungle plants and trees. The valley is home to some of the tallest trees in the tropics, with many towering 100 metres above the forest floor.

It is possible to take a suspended canopy walk above the tree tops or a trek along jungle pathways alongside trees that date back thousands of years.

There is even a night drive through the rain forest to observe nocturnal animals and what has always fascinated me, sleeping birds of all sizes and colours.

For families with children, exploration of the river and rainforest is a once-in-a lifetime experience and since it is not very physically challenging, even grand-parents can join an amazing journey in this exceptional environment.

But Sabah is not only about nature, it also has beautiful pristine beaches, a wealth of ethnic culture, intriguing village life and much more and this is all easily accessible through overland drives or domestic flights.

And last but not least, for our incentive customers looking for off the beaten track activities for small and medium-sized incentives, Sabah is an excellent choice.

Admittedly, it is not the easiest place to travel to, since multiple flights may be required through hubs such as Kuala Lumpur or Singapore to reach Kota Kinabalu International Airport, but the rewards are extensive and each journey is unique.

Our Malaysia office will be pleased to send you our Borneo product offerings for Sabah and Sarawak. Our specialists can also tailor-make bespoke journeys for FIT travellers, families, honeymooners and MICE agencies.

For details, please get in touch at res@asiantrails.com.my

Laurent Kuenzle
Chief Executive Officer, Asian Trails

Asian Trails has just returned from ITB in Berlin and after three busy days of meetings, the consensus from our team is that this year’s trade show has been one of the best ever for Asia.

The Asia section at the event was bustling with interest – indicating that the tourism sector in our part of the world is bracing for a major increase in visitors.

As always, it was wonderful for me to catch up with ‘old’ friends and meet new customers face-to-face. Many discussions focused on the news in our destinations and creating new and exciting products for the season.

Our new Explore guides were a major topic of discussion. We have already published brochures on Vietnam and Thailand in 2024 and the spotlight is now on Cambodia, which is released with this latest Trailblazer.

The informative guides highlight products designed with sustainable and responsible tourism elements, including excursions that involve deep interaction with local people, independent restaurants that specialise in more authentic food than mainstream eateries and alternative transport that is clean and silent.

These approaches enable our guests to experience the true inner heart of the destinations they visit, while leaving a minimum footprint.

Explore Cambodia reveals locations packed with cultural heritage and pristine beauty and these can be explored by eco-friendly transport, such as E-bikes, electric tuk-tuks and conventional cycles.

A focus on community-based tourism unveils how guests can enjoy highly rewarding and immersive endeavours, such as sowing tree saplings in a reforestation area in Kratie province.

The diversity of attractions, exceptional accommodation choices and ongoing infrastructure development confirm that Cambodia has become a standalone destination.

This month’s Trailblazer also includes our latest Sustainability Report 2023. This online publication provides a comprehensive overview of our drive to make sustainable travel and tourism the norm, not the niche approach, in our products and daily operations.

For example, in 2023 our Reusable Water Bottles Initiative raised a total of USD$10,588 for various clean water and plastic reduction projects across Asia.

The report also highlights how Asian Trails’ staff gave back to local people and the environment through corporate social responsibility activities.

These included engaging cyclo-drivers in Phnom Penh in our tours so they gain income and guests enjoy a local form of travel, planting coral gardens in the sea off Bali to maintain fragile ecosystems and seeding coconut trees on a beach in Southern Thailand to combat soil erosion. We will continue to expand on these initiatives as we go forward.

Finally, I would like to thank you all for being a friend and business partner of Asian Trails.

Please contact me if you think I can help with your objectives, in the growth of your business or simply to have a chat on matters that are of mutual importance.

Wishing all of our readers happy and sustainable trails!

Laurent Kuenzle
Chief Executive Officer, Asian Trails

“Sustainable travel is not a niche or a type of product, it is a way of travelling that we want to help make more widespread in 2024.” This is how Asian Trails’ CEO Laurent Kuenzle describes our company’s mission to make responsible travel more mainstream.

“We want to change negative perceptions of travelling more sustainably as a more expensive or a lower quality experience. In this regard, our teams in all of our destinations have been identifying and promoting good value sustainable travel experiences that appeal to mainstream travellers.”

Our latest Sustainability Report 2023 outlines some of the steps we have taken as a company to improve the sustainability of our operations as well as the ESTEEM principles which we use as a framework to holistically incorporate more sustainable travel into our tours and excursions.

In 2023, Asian Trails’ Reusable Water Bottles Initiative raised a total of USD $10,588 for various clean water or plastic reduction projects across Asia, including Water For Cambodia, Sungai Watch, Terra Clear, #tide, and Keep Vietnam Clean.

The report also highlights how our teams gave back to local communities and the environment through various CSR activities. Over the past year, our team collaborated with cyclo drivers in Phnom Penh, helped to restore coral gardens in Bali, planted trees at a school in Vientiane and supported a tourism community in Samui.

Click here to read the full report: Sustainability Report 2023

As we approach International Women’s Day on 8 March, Asian Trails is proud to promote equity in the workplace and celebrate the important role women play in our industry.

To get an insight into the reality of gender equity and female empowerment in travel and tourism, we asked some of our female staff members about their experiences in the workplace.

Phouangsy Phommixay, our interim General Manager for Laos, said: “Our staff are treated fairly regardless of gender and ethnicity. I’ve been fortunate to work in environments that prioritise diversity and inclusion, thereby fostering a culture of equality and providing opportunities for all employees.”

Dewa Ayu Indah, Assistant Contracting Manager at Asian Trails Indonesia, said: “There is a strong commitment to gender equality at Asian Trails. Fifty per cent of our leaders at Asian Trails Indonesia are women. This has created an inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels valued.

“One of my career highlights has been receiving a promotion within just two months of starting a new role – despite still being within my probation period. Working in an environment that values and promotes gender equality has been crucial to my professional growth.”

Delphine Guillon, Deputy Managing Director of Asian Trails Thailand, said: “Asian Trails is an inspiring company to work for where you feel rewarded for the work you put in. Opportunities are given to all regardless of gender and quite a few success stories in the company prove exactly this.”

Hanh Le, Product Manager at Asian Trails Vietnam, said: “I have always been treated equally in other workplaces and Asian Trails is the same. Vietnamese women are known for being powerful and hardworking. Therefore, we are treated with respect, especially in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City where more women are achieving higher positions in society.”

Virginie Kury, General Manager of Asian Trails Cambodia, said: “We definitely have parity in management roles, and this is great! This is done naturally and by merit, more than through an equity approach.”

Naw Eh May Htoo, Deputy Managing Director at Asian Trails Myanmar, said: “Some associations in Myanmar have superstitious ideas and do not elect ‘leadies’ as their leaders, unlike at Asian Trails Myanmar. We give equal opportunities to all genders.”

Many staff said they advance gender empowerment outside of the office space by producing excursions that are beneficial to women in our host communities.

Wirati Ni Ketut, Product Manager at Asian Trails Indonesia, said: “We have abundant products in Indonesia that help females, such as cooking classes and visits to handicraft villages. These excursions empower women through income distribution.”

Delphine from our Thailand office said:” The employment of former female prisoners in Northern Thailand as massage therapists is an incredible achievement and one that benefits them financially.”

Virginie from our Cambodia office said: “We have tours which help women financially and by extension, their families. The inclusion of the Farmhouse Resort & Spa in our programmes provides a secure job and a fair income for women working at this sustainable resort.”

Hanh Le from our Vietnam office said: “Recently we promoted a women’s scooter food tour in Saigon. This is a popular excursion and the females involved in the execution of the tour gain financially.”

Taking these optimistic responses into consideration, we asked if the tourism industry can help drive global empowerment.

Dewa Ayu Indah from Indonesia said: “The travel industry is a powerful agent for change in providing more career opportunities for females. It is a sector that inherently thrives on diversity and cultural exchange. It not only enhances career opportunities for females, it also contributes to a more vibrant and inclusive workforce.”

Delphine from our Thailand office said: “Every industry can do so as long as it is driven by the organisation and top management. Asian Trails promotes equality and staff wellness and this can be a good role model for others.”

Hanh Le from Vietnam concluded: “Many Vietnamese women living in mountainous areas can benefit from travel industry activities. They have a chance to gain income and this can fund an education that could otherwise be denied to them. Tourism can bring better lives to women in marginalised, remote areas.”

Asian Trails’ commitment to increasing the variety, volume and uptake of our sustainable products is showcased in a new online brochure.

The first of our Explore series is focused on sustainability initiatives in Vietnam, with a roll-out of our other destinations over 2024.

Due to an upward trend in sustainable and responsibly-oriented travel inquires in recent years, we know how important it is for agents to have up-to-date, accurate information at their fingertips in order to provide the best possible services to our valued customers.

Specifically curated for travel agents and tour operators, this digital destination guide is designed to enhance understanding, communicate key details about Vietnam and add effective elements of responsible travel inspiration to tailor-made trip planning.

We have handpicked some of the most attractive, affordable and impactful travel experiences, options and services that showcase Vietnam for first-time or repeat travellers so they can save precious research time.

Readers will discover how inspired approaches to product design can yield positive social and environmental impacts, how sustainable travel options are very easily accessible and how this approach does not have to be costly.

Our design experts have included recommendations for restaurants, accommodation, transportation and activities from their own tried and tested visits. We have done the leg work so our clients can undertake seamless tourism.

All of Explore’s content adheres to Asian Trails’ ESTEEM principles: Eat locally, Stay eco-friendly, Transport alternatively, Experience meaningfully, Empower viably, Make a difference. You can read more about these principles here.

Asian Trails’ Group Sustainability Manager Ameer Virani said: “Selling more sustainable products is Asian Trails’ number one sustainability priority. This is for the simple reason that, as a travel company, our core business is to sell travel products. Therefore, the only way for us to be a genuinely more sustainable company is to make the products we sell more sustainable.

“As with many destinations, there is a lack of understanding around exactly how visitors can travel more sustainably while in the destination. Although flying less and staying at eco-resorts are great for sustainable travel, there are many other more convenient ways for the average visitor to travel more sustainably.

“Our destinations in Asia have an abundance of small businesses owned by local community members selling food and other products, as well as operating small-scale travel experiences. Supporting these small, local businesses is a great way to travel sustainably in the country.

“Through these Explore guides, we want to show that travelling more sustainably is not complicated or expensive, and it even enhances the visitor experience. A win-win situation”.

Browse our Explore Guides:

Our expert teams are on stand-by to answer further questions or elaborate on the information provided. For more details, please contact our teams at Asian Trails.