You’ve probably seen so-called “tailor-made” holidays from 10 different travel agencies with essentially the same itinerary when you’re trying to plan a holiday. We’ve been in the travel industry for over 25 years and we’re sad to see too many travellers being sold the same tours under the pretence of being a tailor-made tour.
We established our company because there was a gap in the market of providing travellers with truly personalised trips by considering our clients’ preferences, budget and ultimately, providing quality guides. Travellers are getting more savvy and often know when agencies who have spent very little time in Asia themselves are simply selling the usual trips with people who haven’t been properly screened to meet guests’ needs.
How we choose our guides
Many people don’t know how tour operators select their guides, staff and contractors and they are the ones who can make or break your holiday experience. We’ve built our business on quality guides because they are the ones who are spending the most time with our clients and answering all of their questions.
Peter Jones, the Managing Director, said, “One time I interviewed about 60 guides until I found our driver and guide Ra. We look for people who have a good personality, are reliable and have the right credentials.” Ra is one of our clients’ favourite guides. “We even do our best match the right guides with the type of groups we get. If a group has a young child, for example, we’ll often match a guide who has a family because he has more experience with children,” Peter said.
In fact, one of our regular guides, Mr. Hong, even hosted chef extraordinaire Gordon Ramsay during his episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape Cambodia. You can see Mr. Hong with the famous chef in the full episode at 29 minutes and 30 seconds.
Before you book your next trip whether it’s with us or any other company, ask them how they choose their guides and any other questions that could affect the quality of your trips. If you’re spending a significant amount of your hard-earned money for a holiday with your family, friends or doing a solo trip, you have every right to ask these types of questions.
We live here
Our founders Peter and Eva moved their family to Cambodia not only because they love the country but because they can be in-the-know for all of the festivals, cultural practices and latest trends. Southeast Asia is a fast-changing environment and we integrate what’s happening now with clients’ preferences.
If there are traditional boat races, a lantern festival or an upcoming Angkor Wat marathon happening, we’ll let our clients know ahead time and ask if they like to participate during their stay with us. So when we say we provide personalised trips, we mean it.
If you’ve had any great experiences of true tailor-made trips or negative experiences, please share them in the comment box.