More Sustainable, One Step at a Time

Fifteen years in the business has given us many reasons to be proud. We survived Covid. We rebuilt. We grew past our own benchmarks year after year. But progress has a way of revealing its own questions. Once the numbers stabilised and the pressure eased, we began looking at our work with a different lens.

What is our real impact?

And what more could we do beyond running a successful operation?

This was not a branding exercise. Not a trend. Not an attempt to appear greener than we are. It was a straightforward and sometimes uncomfortable reflection on how our choices shape places, people, and communities. It extends to how we run our business, how we partner locally, and how we contribute to sustainable tourism in a meaningful and measurable way.

Vietnam’s Tourism Growth

Vietnam’s tourism landscape continues to expand. In the first ten months of 2025, the country welcomed close to 17.2 million international visitors, a rise of more than 21% compared with the same period last year.

Tourism is a powerful economic driver. It supports millions of livelihoods across hospitality, transport, craft villages, guiding, and community-run initiatives. At the same time, unmanaged growth can strain fragile ecosystems, increase waste, and put pressure on cultural sites. The industry benefits Vietnam, but it can also test Vietnam. We see the benefits, and we also see the challenges.

Why We Chose Travelife

Sustainability is easy to talk about but difficult to implement. It takes time, money, patience, and a willingness to question habits we’ve relied on for years. We did not choose Travelife to look good. We chose it because we needed guidance. Travelife helps us to audit, document, improve, and prove. It keeps us accountable.

We are now a member of Travelife and we have started the process to work step by step towards complying with international sustainability standards. Travelife is a three-stage certification program for tour operators and travel agents: (1) Travelife Engaged; (2) Travelife Partner and (3) Travelife Certified. We are at stage 1 – Travelife Engaged. We are working to move forward to stage 3 – Certified.

What We Are Working On, Practically

Our approach is straightforward. We look at what we control and push for measurable improvements.

Training our team and reviewing policies

We have been training our teams, updating our internal processes to reflect the standards we believe in, not only the standards we are required to meet.

Reducing waste where possible
 We encourage responsible resource use during tours, collaborate with partners who minimise single-use products, and update internal office practices. These are small, steady adjustments.

Tracking and reporting

We document what we do. We identify gaps. We learn from mistakes. This step is often invisible, but it’s essential if we want to avoid empty claims.

Moving Forward, One Step at a Time.

We are still early in the journey. Stage 1 of Travelife is simply the foundation. There is a lot we must tighten, improve, and rethink.

We have more work ahead than behind us. Travelife gives us direction, but progress depends on consistent action. We choose to move step by step instead of promising quick results. And we stay open about where we are starting from and where we are heading.

Thank you for walking this road with us.

More updates will come as we continue our Travelife journey.