I received a comment here last week that made me think again about what Sustainable Tourism means to me.

It is the case that once you have attached a label to a thing or a concept you treat it as if it were an absolute truth. It is therefore healthy to stop and see it from a different perspective occasionally.

Much has been written about sustainable tourism and you can find references all over the web but at its heart is the concept of sustainable development “which implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development).

It is quite easy to see tourism as the antithesis of sustainability as we jet around the world, discarding our waste, depleting water resources and polluting cultures as we go; but then just about everything about our modern lifestyle is detrimental to the planet and unsustainable.

Travel is part of the human psyche with the freedom to travel a human right and I think the world would be a much poorer (spiritually as well as economically) place were we all to stop travelling.

With that right, of course, comes responsibility. Inevitably places will change once the tourists arrive. For example over the course of some 20 years I have seen Chaweng Beach on Ko Samui, Thailand, change from an almost deserted stretch of coast into a bustling collection of hotels, restaurants, bars and shops.

The problem is that, more often than not, resorts like that (and there are of course many thousands more examples) are not planned with sustainability in mind. Over time they will put an untenable drain on resources and eventually destroy the very reason the destination attracted visitors in the first place.

That is the type of change we must guard against if we are to meet the “needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Perhentian Beach, East Coast Malaysia. Credit: Tourism Malaysia

Naturally that is where the concept of sustainable tourism comes in and aims to engage all stakeholders in the planning and execution of tourist developments. The idea of a win-win-win for the local environment (social and physical), the consumer and the industry is especially important for me as it appeals to my sense of fairness.

The problem I have found with the concept of sustainable tourism is that, once you start researching it, you are soon faced with even more concepts: responsible travel, eco-tourism, green travel, nature-based tourism, carbon-offsetting, community-based tourism, cultural tourism, poverty tourism etc. All of a sudden you have a glossary of terms some of which are vague, some contentious and others, according to Justin Francis, MD, responsibletravel.com, simply distracting.

I wonder how many eco-lodges have been built on land cleared of plants, trees and people especially for the purpose of a nature-based experience! I am sure such things can happen through ignorance but equally they can happen as a deliberate ploy to use the “eco” badge as no more than a marketing device. It all becomes buzzwords and noise.

Block out the noise, get back to basics and it’s about promoting and developing tourist experiences that “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

In 2005 the World Tourism Organization called upon the United Nations General Assembly and others to “fully recognize tourism, when sustainably developed and managed, as an effective tool to realize the Millennium Development Goals” and especially poverty alleviation. Sustainable tourism for me then is about being custodians of the land for future generations while at the same time taking care of those in the present. It’s about finding the balance between environmental integrity, social justice and economic development.

A tall order? Definitely. Worthwhile? Absolutely.

This week I was reading what travel to Asia might look like in 2023.

In brief the four scenarios proposed were:

Boom and burst – we are all going to be richer (in the UK at least!) and travel more. Look out for a theme park at Mount Everest base camp and controlled entry into busy cities.

Divided disquiet – we are going to be fighting over scarce resources and rushing off to see places before they disappear.

Price and privilege – high fuel prices will make travel a luxury for the elite.

Carbon clampdown – we would each be given a carbon allowance to pollute equally.

None of them make good reading and while it might take longer than 14 years for some (or more likely a combination) of these scenarios to potentially exist we all need to be mindful of the possibilities. Yet at the same time we should not accept them as inevitable.

I believe that the growing popularity of Responsible Travel is a force that can be used to fashion positive change in the industry; and, given the industry’s vast global reach, in the world at large. Thanks to people like Justin Francis at Responsible Travel.com the movement has been driven as much by elements within the industry as by consumer demand.

Those elements tend to be leaders of small specialist company’s with a purpose higher than simply creating shareholder value. These types of business Neil Crofts calls Authentic Businesses : they “generate profit through the pursuit of a profound and positive purpose.”

My own business principles have always been ethically grounded and thus it is no great leap for me to subscribe to the notion of authentic business.

I believe that a growing band of consumers are looking for more authenticity in every aspect of their lives and especially in their travel choices.

Futurist Dr Ian Yeoman “talks about how the world economy has changed tourist identity and value patterns to something more simple which is accelerating the trend of inconspicuous consumption.” Prof Yeoman took his soothsaying further forward to 2030 and had a less apocalyptic perspective than this week’s report: “New experiences, luxury, culture and authenticity are some of the trends that will shape the future of world tourism. The tourist wants to sample the ethnicity of the destination, increasingly interests in culture, food and sport are shaping the way people approach their choice of holiday.”

I have no doubt that the excesses that exist in some tourist destinations today will still exist in 14, 21 or 121 years: it has always been the human way to pursue hedonism.

However I want to believe that Prof Yeoman is correct in his prediction that authenticity will play an increasingly important role within the industry; and I for one will be participating in that particular future.

True authentic businesses work in partnership with their customers and I believe that, all the time like-minded people are coming together to promote and purchase responsibly and sustainably, the less-desirable scenarios summarised above can be avoided.

It is for that reason I am always on the look out for authentic travel businesses in south east Asia (like The Sarojin in Khao Lak, Thailand) to promote, so please contact me if you know any.

In the meantime, what are your predictions for the future of travel?

As I mentioned in my previous piece, Community Based Tourism: What’s in a Name?, I first became aware of the concept in the early 1990s when I was introduced to the Ulu Ai Longhouse experience in Sarawak, East Malaysia. It was one of the first tours, in the depths of the Borneo Rainforest, which we promoted.

There were other longhouse tours around, the best known being on the Skrang River, but, to my knowledge, none were as sensitive to the cultural and natural environment as this one.

The initiative was the brain-child of the two owners of the Kuching-based operator Borneo Adventure, Philip Yong and Robert Basiuk. It has been described by Robert, as “one example of a new generation of tourism products promoting the intricate relationship between the rainforest and its dwellers.”

The project started back in 1986 and by 1999 twenty six families “received over RM 300,000 ($82,000) in tourism-related pay. In addition to the wages earned as guides, boat drivers and cooks, as well as rental for the guesthouse, the village people also earn money selling traditional handicrafts such as woven blankets ($10,000 in 1999). This income has also allowed the village to break out of the subsistence agriculture cycle and diversify their economy to include more efficient cash crops. The reduced demand for expansion onto new land means that less forest is cut, ultimately providing more habitat for wildlife.”

Philip Yong, the company’s managing director, told me recently that the project continues to perform well although they have put a cap on the annual number of visitors. I almost typed the word ‘naturally’ in that sentence but of course not all companies would be as sensitive: some would milk the project for as much as they possibly could. I hate being cynical but that is the reality.

In an interview published on Wild Asia (a Malaysia-based conservation group which promotes responsible tourism) Philip states that “If I want to make money I could sell this product to another company and cash out….. But this is good for the soul…”

In this same interview Philip explains frankly that community based tourism (CBT) is not without its challenges and he is keen to point out that, although an award-winning initiative, it should not be viewed as a model.

I wonder if there is or could be a model for community based tourism. “There’s no one solution-fit-all, but a set of criteria. You need to have a cohesive community with a strong leadership, and you need people who are committed and who get things done,” says Yong. Now that of course is true of any community project and, although my experience with ‘communities’ is limited, my guess is it is difficult to find these key attributes in one place. Thus I doubt that a model could ever exist.

I do believe that, while not a panacea, CBT does have scope for alleviating poverty in remote communities. If you have any experience of such projects or know of a ‘model’ I am keen to hear from you, please contact me.

All images courtesy of Borneo Adventure.

The key question for me is, over the longterm (well, we are all going to have to work until we’re 90 aren’t we?), how can I use my 25 years of travel industry experience as a specialist tour operator in a worthwhile way?

Until recently, in my spare time, I was a school governor and a trustee of a children’s charity but those tenures have ended and now I am looking for something else. I have always been interested in a responsible approach to travel, and a great believer in authentic travel experiences, so the idea of pursuing something in this line appeals. Especially if it meets one of the aims of this site, namely to bring positive change to the lives of under-privileged children in south-east Asia (not all of them, of course, just as many as possible).

Two of my favourite tours at Magic of the Orient were community-based, although I don’t think the phrase ‘Community based tourism” had been coined when we first started promoting them back in the mid 1990s. One tour was to a hilltribe village in Northern Thailand and the other to a longhouse in Sarawak, East Malaysia (aka Borneo). In both cases the community had built accommodation especially for tourists and in both cases the community were involved in planning and running the set-up. These projects brought income to the community via bed and lodgings, guiding services and souvenir purchases.

Here is a definition of CBT from the Thailand Community Based Tourism Institute (1997):

“CBT is tourism that takes environmental, social, and cultural sustainability into account. It is managed and owned by the community, for the community, with the purpose of enabling visitors to increase their awareness and learn about the community and local ways of life”.

Unfortunately, however, there does not appear to be just one definition. According to Harold Goodwin, a recognized authority on Responsible Tourism, “there is no agreement about the meaning of CBT and ….. whenever the words are used the meaning needs to be made clear”.

OK that’s fair enough so we always need to qualify CBT whenever we talk about it but wait! According to a study by Goodwin, the model is not sustainable: “.. evidence suggests that average bed occupancy achieved by CBT initiatives is around 5% and that this unsustainable.”

What? So is there any point? Goodwin goes on: “The research has demonstrated that there are a number of initiatives which are not CBT which have demonstrated very considerable employment, local economic development and collective community benefits….”

OK, so this is more positive. There are initiatives that are not CBT that are successful. Hmm. So if there is an initiative that is deemed successful does it matter that it is not CBT?

This also begs the question. “how is success measured”? For me, back when we started promoting such tours, the motivation was twofold: 1) to give remote communities the opportunity to benefit from tourism and 2) to provide our clients with an authentic experience. For me it was essential that the hosts were proactive participants rather than passive recipients as in ‘goldfish bowl’ tourism: the tours to Paduang villages – the so-called longneck tribes – in Northern Thailand are examples of passive tourism and, in my opinion, are abhorrent . Simplistically, if these objectives were met, it was successful and certainly the two tours referred to above are still operating today (I shall write more about them later).

Also it must surely depend upon whether the initiative is intended to be the sole provider for a community or whether it is to be incremental income. Given the vagaries of the travel industry I would suggest that the initiative should always be for incremental income.

If we forget, then, the constraints of labels and think instead in terms of (lower case) community based tourism, surely this opens up a wide range of possibilities.

What do you think: is Community Based Tourism no more than academic theory; just more marketing hype with little real value over the long-term; or is it a concept worth pursuing?

That is not to say that Bali is perfect: far from it. Most of the population seem to be squished into the eastern side of the island especially around the southern corner, and the traffic can be horrendous. And personally I dislike the way Kuta Beach has become the type of mass-market, over-developed resort area you can find anywhere.

The island’s ills were succinctly summarised by Dr. Anak Agung Gde Agung, a former Minister of Societal Affairs, writing in The Jakarta Post and quoted in this week’s Bali Update “Bali at the crossroads”.

“The erosion of Bali’s, tradition, culture and natural environment as a result of massive efforts to boost tourist numbers has occurred in a number of ways. The most visible is the overload in infrastructure and overuse of precious natural resources. Roads have become cramped with cars at all hours of night and day, while farmlands have disappeared at a rate of around 1000 hectares per year to make way for hotels, villas and malls.

All of Bali’s 37 beaches and eight rivers have undergone serious transformations from their original states through development activities that have illegally violated building codes. Water levels at various points are so low they risk drying up altogether, inviting sea water to seep in. This problem and many more like it were foregone conclusions when the number of hotel rooms, set by French tourist company Sceto at a maximum 22.000 for Bali, exceeded the 70.000 mark…..

The more fatal effect of this overload of tourists lies in the impact it has culturally. As farmlands are converted into tourist infrastructure, alienation not only occurs with the land but also to the temples, rituals, ceremonies and communal life – the essential lifestyle of the people who used to live on that land. The Balinese way of life, culture and tradition has been displaced in the blink of an eye.”

Fortunately there have been signs recently that the local administration recognises the need to preserve the island’s cultural heritage and Dr Agung sets out a way forward:

“First, it [the Administration] should aim to preserve and enhance the special cultures, traditions and natural environment of Bali through multifaceted defensive and motivational policies.

Next, it should bring in the right type of tourists who can appreciate the culture and natural environment of the island……This will prevent Bali from becoming everything for everybody and eventually nothing for nobody.

Finally, Bali’s key philosophy on life, the Tri Hita Karana, should be strengthened. The premise of the philosophy teaches that man in his every action should always heed his impact on the three main surroundings – his fellow being, his natural environment and his god or morality. In meeting his needs, man should balance them in such a way that the needs of those around him are not impaired.”

For me that is another way of saying responsible or sustainable tourism and I agree wholeheartedly with this strategy. I cannot see how Bali can do anything else if it is to ensure its survival as a sought-after tourist destination and even perhaps, ultimately, as an entity.

In my opinion Bali is far from being a lost cause and still has many wonderful aspects but now is surely the time for the island to make its mark as a beacon for sustainable tourism.

An existing example of sustainable tourism in Bali can be found on the Bali Discovery web site Bali Eco Adventure: Sustainable Tourism in Bali’s Highlands. Bali Eco Adventure have established a model of sustainable tourism “which seeks to minimize any negative impacts on the environment and local community, rewarding the endemic population for their careful stewardship of nature and cultural traditions.”

Bali is such a magical place I think here is huge scope for doing more along these lines. What do you think? Is Bali a lost cause, a cause worth fighting for or fine as it is?

I wrote recently about my experience of discovering northern Thailand by car (Part 1 and Part 2).

Together with a colleague I visited Doi Angkhang, north of Chiang Mai, close to the border with Myanmar: Doi is the local word for mountain and Angkhang stands at about 1300 metres.

On this trip I saw (mostly by design but partly by accident!) areas of Thailand most tourists on mainstream holidays would not get to see.

In my opinion it is important, both for me personally and for local communities, that the positive benefits of tourism are spread to more remote parts of the country. Personally I enjoy seeing a destination behind the tourist façade and I am sure I am not alone: I get a lot more from the experience knowing that what I am seeing and experiencing is genuine, even though that experience might not always be a pleasant one. Local markets often fall into the latter category!

I do not subscribe to the notion that the flip side for my, sometimes unwitting, hosts is that they get to see glimpses of a life beyond their own, current reality. And I don’t mean me personally of course but rather what I represent.

No, for me the flip side is that tourism (when operated responsibly) is both bringing an income to the community and, potentially, the means to increase the well-being of its members.

I want to be absolutely clear here that I am not advocating the type of tourism where a tour bus turns up, disgorges its camera-clicking contents, money is deposited into a pot, bus sucks back contents and departs. No one is enriched by such an experience.

The type of tourism I am referring to is the type that Amari Hotels & Resorts, a major hotel company in Thailand, is engaging in at Doi Angkhang.

More and more hotels around the world are embracing sustainable, responsible or ‘green’ travel principles but here is a hotel group that has been doing so long before it became de rigeur. It was in 1995 that the group started the Baht for a Better Life Foundation: “Small change, contributed by guests to our hotels and donations from our staff, are used to further the education of children in Thailand. There are no administrative costs in running the Baht for a Better Life Foundation. Therefore, every dollar, pound and euro given to the fund is used for educational projects.” To date, among other things, Baht for a Better Life have rebuilt a dilapidated school in Udon Thani, north-east Thailand, and built ten new schools in underprivileged areas throughout the country.

At Doi Angkhang the Amari-managed hotel is the Ankhgang Nature Resort : a 3-star, 72-room property nestling in the mountains and developed as part of the Royal Angkhang Research Station, under the auspices of the Royal Project Foundation.

During my visit I only had time for a one-night stay but, on a whistle-stop tour of the area, I was able to visit the Royal Angkhang Station Project which “provides agricultural support to neighbouring hilltribes and develops non-indigenous crops for them to grow” as an alternative to the opium poppy which used to be their staple cash-crop. I also stopped at a remote point along the Thai/Myanmar border which was little more than a fence set within a beautiful mountain vista. Other activities in the area include trekking, mountain biking, bird watching; and sightseeing, taking in local hilltribe villages.

Image courtesy of Tourism Authority of Thailand News Room

On this occasion the visits that I made to local hilltribe villages were not of the type I am advocating here because, of necessity, they were brief: they were merely intended to equip me with the information to promote the overall Doi Angkhang experience, just as I am doing now.

There are 7 major hilltribes in northern Thailand but there are many smaller groups and sub groups such that I don’t believe anyone has a definitive count: estimates have put the number at around 20 with a total population of about 500,000.

There are many social and political issues surrounding the hilltribes, but the key point to mention in this article is that, by definition, the villages are remote with limited access to education.

There are four villages in the area surrounding Doi Angkhang, which are home to communities from a number of different hilltribes. Through its foundation, Amari Hotels and Resorts supports a primary school in Baan Khob Dong which provides education for the children of the Black and Red Muser tribes.

In a recently held painting competition with the theme ‘My Dream’, 7 winning students of Baan Kob Dong received scholarships presented by Mr. Wim Fagel, General Manager, Amari Rincome Hotel, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the hotel. (See headline picture above).

As well as general educational support, the Anghang Nature Resort has helped introduce the school children to the concept of tourism. Together with the local education authorities, the resort has implemented a “Junior Guide Program”, where children from the Baan Khob Dong school are trained to show visitors around their village. The Junior Guide Program has become part of the school curriculum.

According to Amari: “The guides are encouraged to take pride in their heritage and the surrounding natural environment and communicate this to the visitors. It also gives an opportunity to take a position of responsibility in the community. Guides who complete the program are awarded a certificate and a guide badge.

The Junior Guide Program enables tourists to have interaction with the local community and receive correct information about the hill tribes and the surrounding area. It also ensures any donations which are given to the villages by visitors are put into projects to benefit the community. Visitors are also taken to a co-operative shop, which sells handicrafts produced in the local villages. In addition, a ‘show house’ has been built so that guests can get an impression of the hilltribe way of life.”

For me it is this type of interaction that is enriching for all parties and it represents what I believe tourism should be about i.e sharing.

Doi Angkhang is just 3 hours north of Chiang Mai and a world away from mass tourism. To book your stay at the Ankhgang Nature Resort visit the Amari website . This is not an affiliate link and I receive no financial benefit.

Have you ever thought of running your own hotel? Maybe a little bed & breakfast on the coast?

Andrew and Kate Kemp had a dream along those lines except their’s was perhaps a bit bigger than most. Rather than a B & B, it was more like a luxury resort in Thailand; and it was to be a hotel that wasn’t a hotel!

The couple had met when they were both 18, they travelled the world together and settled down in Hong Kong for 10 years. They both had good jobs. Andrew was in the service industry, working for a major real estate developer and managing private clubs and leisure facilities. Kate was in sales and marketing for international pharmaceutical and electronic products. It took some 2 years of planning and searching but finally they obtained the finance and the land in Khao Lak, southern Thailand, to build their dream property.

They had been fortunate to stay in many hotels around Asia and therefore knew what both good and bad hotel experiences felt like. They also knew they had to be different so they created a mythical character called Lady Sarojin: an Asian lady renowned for her hospitality. This character was to represent the essence of the hotel around which the business would develop.

In order to deliver the high standard of hospitality that the Kemp’s wanted they based their whole recruitment policy on two things: language skills and attitude. They knew everything else could be taught.

When I met Andrew back in 2005 he explained that “You start with an idea, and then the people. The people we have got have bought into the idea. They understand it and I think they quite like the idea of doing something different.”

The hotel was scheduled to open on 10 January 2005. On 26th December 2004 the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck and wrought havoc on the region.

Andrew and Kate were lucky; because they were not open there were no guests in-house and no loss of life. But much of their dream was washed away. By Boxing Day night they had decided they would start again and that, critically, they would retain as many of their staff as wanted to stay: financially an irrational decision but they were agreed “it was the right thing to do”.

They set the team to work doing things they were not employed to do: the housekeeper was liaising with the Interior designer, the Spa Manager with the landscape contractor and the Front Office Manager managing the project. Probably for the first time in their working lives people were crossing departmental boundaries and really working as a team.

The Sarojin Thailand finally opened on 7 October 2005 and was by then a shared dream.

By 2006 this 56-room boutique hotel had already made it on to the Conde Nast Traveler US Hot List for both Spas and Hotels; and it has won a string of awards including Asia’s Leading Boutique Hotel 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Of course a lot of credit for the success must go to the Kemp’s management skills but for me the most crucial element is their authenticity. They have a purpose that goes beyond shareholder value.

Although I never got to work with the Kemps (I sold my business in March 2005), this is the type of company that I will actively seek out because I want business partners who share my values.

For me it is this type of company that will survive no matter what. The Sarojin might be feeling the pinch at the moment, along with the rest of the world, or it might not; but whatever, the hotel will continue to flourish because Andrew and Kate have the support of their staff, their customers and, equally as important, their community.

In my view, over the long-term, companies that focus on building stakeholder value will always be stronger than those which put shareholder value first. The tourism industry is ideally placed to tackle many of today’s social ills and the world would be a richer place if there were more people like the Kemps in the business.

If you know of any other travel and tourism companies (big or small) working in South East Asia that, in your opinion, are making a contribution beyond shareholder value please leave a comment or email me: tony AT hookedonasia dot org.

N.B. For the record only, I first told Andrew and Kate’s story in my audio book Warts and All: A practical, plain-English approach to branding your business.

The Sarojin images courtesy of: WhiteKaps Resort Company Limited

Black & White portrait by subcomandanta via Flickr

I am writing this piece to make a small contribution to the promotion of Cambodia as a tourist destination. Tourism is one of the country’s few foreign exchange earners and so will play a key role in alleviating the country’s economic woes.

The Phnom Penh Post reports that figures for the first half of 2009 show an overall decline in the number of foreign visitors, with South Korea down by as much as one third. Needless to say there have been job losses.

I realise that talk of poverty, prostitution and human trafficking is not what you would normally associate with tourism promotion, but I have always believed in telling it like it is. For the most part, as a tourist, you would not be aware of these problems but crucially, if you were to visit the country, you could be part of the solution, particularly if using companies that follow responsible tourism principles.

Cambodian Government Aims High

Despite the negative indicators, according to the Straits Times, the government is predicting that next year annual arrivals will increase to 3 million: that’s up from 2.15 million in 2008, a projected increase of 39% over 2 years.

This is perhaps an ambitious figure in today’s climate but, if it is a realistic target, I am all for aiming high. I read that, amidst the gloom, arrivals from Vietnam at least increased by 40% in the first half of this year (2009): it’s a start.

Cambodia Angkor Air Launched This Week

Airport sign by aZAMirui via Flickr

The government hopes that the country’s new national airline, Cambodia Angkor Air, launched this week, will add to the momentum. This is a joint venture between Cambodia (51%) and Vietnam Airlines (49%) and the first flights connect Phnom Penh (Cambodia’s capital), Siem Reap (the gateway to Cambodia’s famed Angkor temples) with Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. A service between Siem Reap and the Cambodian beach resort of Sihanoukville will follow. The collaboration operates as a code share, which in practical terms means flight numbers are prefixed by one or both of the airlines’ 2-character designator codes (K6 and VN); and gives the fledgling airline connections to Vietnam Airlines’ international routes.

Cambodia: The Perfect Tourist Package – City, Culture And Beach

Phnom Penh rooftops by Anduze traveller via Flickr

Cambodia, via its two international gateways, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, is already well served by direct flights from regional hubs like Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore; but these new services by the national carrier both increase air capacity and give the country a degree of autonomy.

Sihanoukville beach

CC photo: John Einar Sandvand, Cambodia Tales

Once the airport at Sihanoukville has officially opened (at the time of writing I do not have a date but I understand it’ll be soon) all of this will combine to give Cambodia the perfect tourist package: city, culture and beach, all accessible by air. The existing accommodation inventory also offers a wide choice of places to stay: from guest houses right the way up, in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh at least, to 5 star luxury.

Cambodia then has the start of a sound tourist infrastructure.

The Two Jewels In Cambodia’s Tourism Crown

Angkor Wat by mtchm via Flickr

Whether or not tourist arrivals hit 3 million next year, by continuing to cater for a wider range of visitors, the industry can attract a higher spend and that is what is needed. For me quality is more important than quantity (but then I’m not running the country!) and I believe it important that all tourist developments should be responsible ones.

The Family at Ta Prohm

Finally I would just briefly mention the two jewels in the country’s tourism crown: 1) The World Heritage site of Angkor and 2) The people.

I will be writing about the temples of Angkor elsewhere but for now let me say that the temple complex, close to Siem Reap, is one of the most awesome sites I have seen in 25 years of travelling in Asia.

Smiling face by mrcharly via Flickr

The people, in my experience, are gentle and charming and for the fortitude shown over decades of war, genocide and instability, they have my respect and admiration. Since 1997 their focus has been firmly on the future and I am sure you, as a visitor, would receive a gracious, warm welcome.

I realise discretionary income is tight at the moment but if you are undecided about where to spend your next vacation let me recommend Cambodia : this pocket-size country has a lot to offer. A word of warning though: after visiting once you will want to go back, and as the country continues to develop there will be plenty to go back for!

If you know Cambodia and would like to give more reasons why someone should consider it for their vacation please comment below.

If you do not know the country and have a question about it, post a comment too: I am sure someone will be able to help