Tour Operators and Hosts plan trips
TIES – The International Ecotourism Society reports: Some of the UK and Thailand’s most highly acclaimed responsible tour operators have been working hand-in-hand with local Thai community members to develop new community-based tours. This ground-breaking initiative has given the tour operators and local Thai community members a unique chance to meet each other in person, sit down together to compare their different roles, experiences and needs, and to design new tours together.
Now, inspiring new trips have been developed, suitable for the special needs, tastes and styles of a spectrum of guests. Each of these hand and heart-crafted trips offers incomparable insights into local life, while directly supporting local community and conservation work.
Opportunities include:
• Trip through the mangroves in Leeled
• Combine cultural exchange with community service
• Visit World Legacy Award-winning Koh Yao Noi Community
• Swing to the Rhythms of Local Life with the Colourful Lahu People of Ja Boo
• Experience Cultural Exchange and Fair Trade in Action on a very special visit through Meet the People’s Northern Thailand program.
Community based Tourism (CBT) is planned and managed by local people, working together in a “CBT Group.” Activities are lead by hosts and community guides. CBT programmes are designed to support social and environmental projects, to build local skills, and to give voice to local people. To prepare for this, community members receive several steps of training in areas such as planning, trip development, organisation, management, tour operation, marketing and trip evaluation. Rotation, queues and Community Funds help to distribute the benefits of tourism fairly.
These trips were facilitated during the CBT SPRING Partnerships Project, by the Thailand Community based Tourism Institute (CTI-i) with funding from the Travel Foundation and Tourism Authority of Thailand (UK).
Valere Tjolle
