the odyssey of social responsibility andsustainabilityanother $1,000 was donated to the nepal...

Responsible Travelcommitted to

The Odyssey of

Social Responsibility

Tang Dynasty Tours Co., Ltd Corporate Social Responsible Report 2015

AndSustainability

Responsible Travelcommitted to

Contents03 Introduction

President’s Message

The Highlight of 2015

A History of Corporate Social Responsibility

Empower People

Future Actions

0406-

Helping Nepal06Re-promoting Nepal Travel07

09

1719

Odyssey Wells Project10Supporting Young ChildrenPhilanthropic Efforts in ChinaAnimal Welfare and TravelsSustainability of Cultural HeritageAwareness & Activeness

1112131415

11 of business success

years 200+ employees

21tour destinations

90% of tour service providedin less developed countries

500+local working partners

$30,000donation made

12,000+ people benefit from our philanthropic efforts

08

Responsible Travelcommitted to 03

Introduction

Even before established and since, Tang Dynasty Tours has pioneered private travels to Asia in the name of Odyssey Tours for more than 11 years. Together with our 24/7 customer service, the highly personalized tour service offers a lifetime experience for those who travel with us.

As we grow, social and environment responsibility becomes our biggest core value. We operate tours in a responsible manner that supports our core value and ingrains the principle of sustainability in every aspect without compromising on the quality of the guests’ travel experience. It is not only a proven way to generate positive results to our business, but most importantly, our leadership role as a corporate citizen influences others to make the world a better place.

This report reflects our greatest efforts to change the world while creating value for our guests, partners, the environment and global communities.

Introduction

Tang Dynasty Tours Destnations



At Tang Dynasty Tours, we are driven by a single purpose – to help refine the tourism industry for the long-term benefit of local community, the environment, travelers and the tourism industry.

Travel is more than sightseeing and experience. Travel can make good impacts on the places and the people we visit. That is what we advocate, and we have made it a firm commitment that we approach through continual improvement.

The tour service we provide has helped people realize their dream trip, create job opportunities for locals, give charitable donations, conserve indigenous culture and improve the welfare of animals. A fair-trade logic applies, so guests are paying a fair price in exchange for high quality and often unique products and services, within a context of transparency and equality.

We aspire to be one of the leading responsible tour operators in the globe, not just for this generation, but from one generation to the next. To achieve this, we strive at every turn to demand ourselves and are committed to working with the government, non-profit organizations, as well as those who run business with the same purpose as us to ensure the local community can enjoy the benefits responsible travel brings. We invest in the training, skills, and resources to support them in that effort. None of this would be possible without the dedication of our amazing people, who make all of this happen.

The world is constantly changing, but our core value stands still via the acid test of time. And it is our deep belief that the great value we create for everyone involved in the tourism industry, including our shareholders, employees and world communities, will be considerably increased in the years to come.

President of Tang Dynasty Tours Co., Ltd



Achievements of Tang Dynasty Tours in Recent Years

TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2012~2015

PATA Gold Award 2008 Honourable Mention in Education and Training

Guilin Leading Travel Corporate 2010

Recognition of Tourism Management in the GMS

Certificate of Appreciation by Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

Civic-Minded Company issued by Guilin Tourism Administration

Convener of Inbound Tourism Alliance for "9+10" Districts



Helping Nepal


Nepal is one of the popular Asian destinations we take tours to. When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, we provided quick response to disaster and pragmatic assistance to the reconstruction work.

1. A total monetary donation of $3,500

We encouraged our employees to support earthquake relief in Nepal through fundraising activities, which received $2,500 in contributions. The sum was used to purchase 300 solar powered lights and temporary tents to provide some of the basic items for life to help people and households severely affected in Sorpani, Gorkha.

Another $1,000 was donated to the Nepal Earthquake Tourism Recovery Fund initiated by PATA Foundation.

“When emergency aid is needed after a natural disaster, we hope we can help,” said Candy Yu, Vice President of Tang Dynasty Tours. Along with the team, she also expressed condolences to our Nepali staff that lost their families or got injured during the disaster.


Click to watch the video>


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLCJA7TQQIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLCJA7TQQIc


The earthquake and aftershocks have caused further damage with many historic buildings, and historic temples severely damaged. Many areas were filled with rubble and debris which were required to be cleared up before reconstruction work might begin. Knowing the situation, staff members of our local office in Nepal actively volunteered in the general clean-up activities in and around Kathmandu to help remove roadblocks that may impede other volunteer teams and agencies from efficiently carrying out their operations.

The Highlight of 2015The Highlight of 2015

2. Volunteering in the recovery work

Re-promoting Nepal Travel

After losing their family members and house, the Nepali people couldn’t afford to lose more in their current life. As tourism remains a significant sector to Nepal’s economy, one of the best ways to help the country recover from the disaster, is bring tourists back.


Until now, we have successfully brought guests back to Nepal after the quake, a pleasant result of our promotional efforts. People in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Lumbini have benefited from the tourism income generated from these travels.

Carefully assessing the safety issues in Nepal’s major tourist cities, we came to a conclusion that things are far better than we expected. Therefore, we decided to re-promote the country to our guests. Articles were continuously published to inform visitors of the status and what a visit means to the country. To back up our words, a field trip for our staff members was organized at the end of 2015 to inspect sites, accommodations and activities involved in our tour program.

The Highlight of 2015The Highlight of 2015


ConsistencyDedication

Awareness



Odyssey Wells Project

Back in 2012, we started a project to donate pump wells to improve lives in the Angkor area, Cambodia. The project was named after our leading travel brand, Odyssey Tours, as Odyssey Wells Project and has been ongoing since then. Together with our guests’ monetary donations, we have helped construct 28 pump wells in villages in Angkor, Cambodia. More than 70 families and over 500 local people have benefited from the project, before which was started, there was only one well for the whole village. Villagers once had to carry clean water home from places very far, but not anymore since the pump wells were built just near their house. Thanks to the project, the number of malaria illness cases occurred in the area fell in the past two years.

28 pump wells have been built for villagers in Angkor, Cambodia


Supporting Young Children

100+ guests have participated in supporting Laos’ young children.

In 2014 and 2015, we provided medical supplies to the Vieng Kham Orphanage in Laos, where many young children are still lack of proper medical treatments and sufficient medical supplies. Our supplies helped children of the orphanage get medical treatment in time to prevent further illness.

In 2014 and 2015, we supported Laos’ Ban Khia Luang Primary School with our guests. Around 40 school children received donations of school kits, including stationery and books. Some of our guests provided educational lessons during their visit. An Australian school group of students even helped renovate the primary school by painting classrooms, fixing tables, chairs, toilets and giving out educational materials to the kids.

Xieng Khouang is the most heavily bombed area during the Vietnam War and the third SOS Children’s Village in Laos. The area is contaminated with unexploded ordnances, people there live a hazardous life. A certain portion of the students at the Xieng Khouang Elementary School are either orphaned or abandoned children. We worked with local tour suppliers to offer free medical supplies to the school so the kids could benefit from proper medical treatment when needed.

Medical Supplies to Vieng Kham Orphanage

School Kits to Ban Khia Luang Primary School

Medical Supplies to Xieng Khouang Elementary School



Philanthropic Efforts in China

Donation to Guizhou Bia Sha Hope School

Donation to Wenchuan and Yushu earthquake relief

In 2011, we and two of our guests, Mr. Naran Mepani and Mr. Kisnor Pindolia, provided a donation of $466 to the Biasha Hope School, which was constructed to provide free education to the children in the last gunner tribe in China. The donation was used for improving the educational facilities necessary for a fully rounded education of children.

When disasters strike, Tang Dynasty Tours is there to help. When the massive earthquake struck Wenchuan (Sichuan Province) in June 2008, we worked with Guilin Tourism to give out monetary donations. Similar donation was made to Yushu (Qinghai Province) where was hit by an earthquake in 2010. In total we donated more than $3,400 in relief support to help the affected communities get back on their feet.


During 2007 to 2010, a consecutive monetary donation of more than $3,000 was made to help more than 80 pupils studying in the following primary schools in Guizhou Province: Baibi County Primary School, Kongbai County Primary School, Wugao County Primary School and Yingshang County Primary School. Donation hadn’t ended until school fees were exempted in 2010.

Donation to students of primary schools in Guizhou


Animal Welfare and TravelsAs a responsible travel focused business, we respect and speak up for the voiceless. Tang Dynasty Tours staff members donate their time to help endangered species in addition to avoiding the exploitation of the vulnerable animals. The tours we provide take animal welfare into consideration with no wildlife entertainment venues included. Working closely with local experts, Tang Dynasty Tours helps to ensure that peoples and wildlife continue to survive and coexist successfully.

Avoiding elephant rides. Complying with the international call to end elephant rides, we determined to stop promoting this activity in destinations where it is in great demand from tourists. To stick to our core value, we encourage travelers to use jeep in Amber Fort (India) and Chitwan National Park (Nepal) instead of using an elephant since 2014.

Banning elephant-unfriendly program. We stand against animal entertainment venues, both wild and domestic, by wiping them out of our tour programs and educating travelers the harm of visiting them. In Thailand, elephant performance is a popular tourist activity that inhumanely demands the animal to do paintings, kick football in a damaging and stressful way. When knowing the situation in 2013, we stopped the program immediately. For those who want to be close up with the elephant, an alternative of Elephant Nature Park was made, which serves as a sanctuary and rescue centre for these wild giant creatures.

Participating in giant panda volunteer program. The giant panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. In 2013, we volunteered in Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, China. The purpose of the program is to increase awareness of protecting giant panda and learn about their habits and behaviors. Working with the skilled giant panda keeper, we cleaned out their cages, met the pandas in their natural enclosures, fed them as well as observing them as they went about their daily routine. The experience gave us confidence of promoting the program to our guests who are also happy to contribute to the protection work via taking part in it.




Sustainability of Cultural Heritage

In parallel with world heritage, cultural heritage plays a crucial role in society, environment and tourism industry. We believe by investing in making cultural heritage sustainable we can help reduce poverty and promote economic growth together.

Travelers who wanted to get more authentic experience had their wish realized with our assistance. In 2015, we arranged traditional Nepali wedding ceremony for our guests at the Swayambhunath Temple in Kathmandu. The ceremony includes blessings from a Lama, chanting sacred text and customary worship to solemnize the wedding for the couple. Feedback has been positive as travelers get extremely special travel experience with the true value of conventional customs being conveyed in the meantime.

It is very important to learn the culture in addition to sheer sightseeing. We intend to tell the world about our valuable intangible cultural heritage, so we have added traditional paper cutting class and calligraphy class in the tour program of Xi’an (Shaanxi Province) since 2008. The activity helps seasoned traditional culture masters get a great job opportunity and preserve the culture, while traveler can return home with an authentic Chinese token and lovely memory.

A large part of a great trip consists of wonderful culinary experience, especially when it addresses the old flavors. In Vietnam and Thailand where the local traditional cuisine is well known to in the globe, we started partnership with local cooking schools in 2012, aiming to offer genuine cooking experience for our guests as well as making sure the profit goes back to local.

Incorporating tradition to personal event

Promoting traditional cultural activities

Promoting traditional cooking



Awareness & Activeness

Tang Dynasty Tours is committed to raising the awareness of global responsible travel via answering the calls for better tourism from organizations or individuals.

As a leading travel company based in Guilin, we started working closely with Guilin Tourism in the same effort of promoting Guilin both at home and abroad from 2015. Tourism is a significant sector to Guilin’s economy, yet the city’s potential has not yet been fully exploited. By providing sample tours and online marketing suggestions, Tang Dynasty Tours will remain a helpful partner of the government to boost local tourism.

We are active in attending forums and international conference that shape our vision. At the end of 2015, we were invited to attend the Seminar of China Millennial Traveler & Outbound Tourism Development hosted by ASEAN-China Center in Kuala Lumpur. The seminar shed lights on our future direction as to making the most of outbound tourism so more people involved in the industry will benefit from it.

Fanny Zhang, Marketing Director at Tang Dynasty Tours, speaking in the Seminar of China Millennial Traveler & Outbound Tourism Development.

In 2014, we became a member of Tourism Cares, a non-profit, philanthropic icon of the travel and tourism industry. Our donation fee helped preserve and enhance the travel experience for future generations. During the membership period, we had taken advantage of the quarterly report and the webinars provided by Tourism Cares to better understand how we can boost responsible travel at present and in the years ahead.


Tang Dynasty Tours’ President, Michael Zhou (middle), participating in the International Forum on Smart Park 2013.

President Michael Zhou speaking at the UNWTO/PATA Forum on Domestic and Regional Tourism.

Similar workshops on the Chinese Travelers’ Service Matching Program held by the ASEAN-China Center also took place in Cebu, Manila and Kuala Lumpur in the same year of 2015. We are proud of having been part of these events that reflect our collective efforts to create better opportunities for tourism industry.

In 2013, we participated in the International Forum on Smart Park held by PATA in Jiuzhaigou, China. Along with other tour operators, to improve the declined inbound tourism we faced, we discussed solutions and shared management strategies to help bring inbound tourism back on track.

Back in 2010, we registered in the UNWTO/PATA Forum on Domestic and Regional Tourism: Issues, Opportunities and Prospects held in our city of Guilin to take stock of the global and regional trends in tourism and the broader environment impacting on tourism.

In 2009, we were invited to attend the Sanjiang Tourism Cooperation Summit hosted by Guilin Tourism. Along with regional tour operators, we worked out ways to promote the area that is rich in minority culture featuring exotic traditions and unique architectures.



Empower People

Empower People

We provide training and development opportunities to our employees to promote engagement and achieve strong business results through a culture of continual improvement. Our programs include regular field trips, lessons and annual travel of on-site inspection.

Investment on first-hand expertise

Currently, we provide tour service in 21 destinations, spanning Asia and the Middle East. All our travel consultants have travelled extensively or lived in their specialist regions to master a wide range of destination expertise to help guests complete their dream trip. Our purchasing team also frequently visits local suppliers, including tour providers, hotels and airlines to maintain a firm relationship with them, so our guests can enjoy greater value or special perks from these inside access.

Lessons on professional knowledge

It’s essential that our employees offer a seamless customer experience and deliver the same quality of service regardless of the places they travel to. Since our company was established, we have been running in-company training programs to foster our employees’ professional expertise by a consistent approach by advancing communication skills, tour products knowledge and destination tips.


Annual company travel and on-site inspection

On an annual basis, we organize company travels to the destinations we promote. The purpose is simple: to inspect the place and make our employees come back fresh. That leads to a positive result to our business and spirit, and equally importantly, the local tourism income.

$154,000 spent on field trips

Every year…

30+ lessons on destinationknowledge

20+ destinations visited

Empower People


Future Actions

Future Actions

For human, to completely achieve the goal of making travel a responsible and sustainable activity, there is still a long way to go. Many of us come as a small drop, by connecting together, we can fill the bucket – that is what we learned when we focused on helping Nepal to recover last year.

Despite the fact that things change, Tang Dynasty Tours remains committed to living its core value. We work towards the right direction in order to give more back to the environment and the people.

Bringing tourism to underdeveloped places.

The benefits of tourism are plenty, with the key benefits being providing direct and indirect jobs in a variety of ways. In addition to the current 21 destinations, we expand into further destinations, most of which are believed in the underdeveloped regions that tourism will give a boost to local economy and employment.

Improving local life and livelihood.

One of the biggest long-term goals we possess is to help local communities thrive. Through promoting tourism activities that include philanthropic endeavors and sustain the feature of the diverse destinations we visit, the more tourist dollars coming in, the larger the economic benefit for everyone to change their life.

Training to be better.

To provide excellent travel service to world travelers, we focus on improving our employee’s professional skills and make sure our values are incorporated in the culture and daily operations of every tour.

Making an extraordinary difference, bit by bit.

We are believers in our ability to help nature to flourish and cultures to bloom when everyone in the industry unite. Doing good will be a natural mission in every field trip our employees take to influence our peers, which just resonates our slogan “You’re not alone”.


Protecting the environment.

Behind our operation there are strict principles to follow. We screen tour suppliers, accommodations against responsible tourism criteria or have negative impact on the environment before they can be our working partners. We vow to be a carbon neutral company, and fight against any conducts that impact animals in a harmful way.

Giving better together.

As the awareness of responsible travel arises, it is easier to follow those who take the lead. In addition to non-profit organizations, we are dedicated to working with any groups or individuals that function with an aim to make the world a better place.

Future Actions

Tel: 86-773-5850833Fax: 86-773-5821166

Destinations: China | Vietnam | Cambodia | Laos | Thailand | Myanmar | Malaysia |The Philippines | Brunei | Indonesia | India | Nepal | Sri Lanka | Bhutan | The Maldives | Japan |

South Korea | Mongolia | Egypt | Turkey | Jordan

www.tangdynastytours.com

Email: [email protected]

http://www.tangdynastytours.com/

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the odyssey of social responsibility andsustainabilityanother $1,000 was donated to the nepal...

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