Hello, everyone!

This week, we’re kicking off a special editorial series featuring stories from our Co-Founder Jeremy Tran’s reporting journey across Vietnam — uncovering some of the country’s best-kept sustainable travel stories.

Our first dispatch spotlights two standout travel companies whose paths to growth may differ, but whose missions are strikingly aligned: to make tourism in Vietnam more inclusive, community-rooted, and environmentally responsible.

Meanwhile, our team is also on the ground at ILTM Asia Pacific in Singapore this week, where early conversations have been promising. More hotel groups — especially major chains — are beginning to center sustainability in their core strategies. Still, many continue to chase high-carbon expansion models, such as private yachts, that counter to the climate goals our industry urgently needs to embrace.

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What Makes These Two Businesses Vietnam’s Best-Kept Travel Secrets?

Fifty years after the American War and country’s unification, Vietnam has emerged as one of Asia’s most dynamic economies.

Tourism, with its soft power and storytelling potential, has played a pivotal role in reshaping global perceptions, transforming Vietnam’s image from war-torn to a richly layered destination known for its natural beauty, cultural depth, delectable cuisines, and unforgettable adventures.

The numbers speak volumes. In 2024 alone, Vietnam welcomed more than 17.5 million international visitors, marking a staggering 39.5% increase from the previous year. 

And yet, amid this momentum, only a handful of operators stand out for placing sustainability at the heart of their business. Even fewer succeed in doing so while achieving commercial viability, proving that travel businesses can thrive while centering the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

To understand what sets them apart, AST hit the road with Chôm Chôm Travel and Oxalis, two trailblazers proving that responsible tourism can also be commercially successful.

This first dispatch in our special editorial series, “Vietnam’s Best-Kept Sustainable Travel Stories,” invites you behind the scenes of the country’s most inspiring travel pioneers.

Oxalis: Leading Vietnam’s Rise as Asia’s Next Adventure Travel Powerhouse 

Once one of Vietnam’s poorest provinces, Quảng Bình is now drawing adventure seekers from across the globe, thanks to the breathtaking beauty of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, home to some of the largest and most spectacular caves on Earth. The cave system is featured in BBC’s Planet Earth III and Kong: Skull Island Movie.

But this transformation didn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of forward vision, unwavering commitment, and a belief that tourism, when done right, can be a force for good.

At the heart of this transformation is Oxalis, the company that has turned Phong Nha into the crown jewel of Vietnam’s adventure travel map.

From Tour Guide to Sustainable Tourism Trailblazer

In 2011, after years working in various roles in Ho Chi Minh City from tour guide to CSR specialist at Nike, Nguyễn Châu Á returned to his hometown of Phong Nha as he saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of harnessing the international spotlight on the recently explored Sơn Đoòng Cave, the world’s largest, into an adventure tourism destination. 

Châu Á founded Oxalis with a vision to do more than just guide tourists. He set out to create new, world-class adventure experiences while building a tourism model that would generate jobs, protect nature, and empower local communities to become stewards of the land — rather than exploiters of it.

A New Economy Below Ground

Today, Oxalis is the exclusive operator of the Sơn Đoòng Expedition, a bucket-list journey that only allows 1,000 travelers per year to ensure minimal environmental impact. While many see it as luxury or exclusivity, it’s in fact a masterclass in conservation-led tourism. The 6-day expedition, priced at USD 3,000 per person since 2011, is fully booked until January 2027 as of July 2025. 

The expedition alone has created stable employment for 125 local residents including formerly illegal loggers, providing them with monthly incomes far above the regional average.

In an area once impacted by illegal logging and wildlife hunting, this conservation-led tourism model offers a better alternative: protecting the forest is more profitable than cutting it down.

The success of the Sơn Đoòng expedition has paved the way for a growing portfolio of Oxalis expeditions, from multi-day treks to single-day cave experiences — each designed with the same core principles: safety, conservation, and community involvement.

We saw this firsthand on the overnight Hang Va expedition, where these three principles came to life in both logistics and leadership. Tours are kept intentionally small to minimize environmental impact.

Guests are provided with reusable water bottles, portable water filters, and composting toilets at campsites. Cooking is done using gas and plant-based coal, eliminating the need for wood fires and preserving forest resources.

→ Find out about what happened to us when an unexpected off-season monsoon flooded the caves and disrupted our trip.

 A Network of Lodges That Powers Community Transformation

Oxalis’s vision extends beyond the caves. The company has developed a growing network of eco-friendly lodges and farmstays that breathe new life into local economies while honoring the natural and cultural heritage of the region.

Take Chày Lập Farmstay, for example. Located in the peaceful village of Chày, it was the first community-based tourism project in Quảng Bình. In 2016, Oxalis took it over with a commitment to preserve the area’s rustic beauty while creating meaningful livelihoods for local residents.

Tân Hóa: From Floodplain to Global Recognition

One of Oxalis’s most inspiring success stories is in Tân Hóa, a remote commune often devastated by seasonal flooding. According to our tour guide Lộc, who is from this area, skepticism was high in the early days as very few villagers believed tourists would travel that far to hike or explore caves in their background.

Through patient engagement, the company worked with the villagers, helping the community realize the value of their natural surroundings, particularly Tú Làn cave.

Tourism flourished, bringing economic opportunities that were previously unimaginable. By 2023, the UN World Tourism Organization recognized Tân Hóa as one of the “Best Tourism Villages in the World.”

As adventure travel gains momentum across Asia, Oxalis stands as a model for what responsible tourism can look like: people-driven, conservation-led, and future-focused.

Chôm Chôm Travel: Making Adventure in Vietnam More Accessible and Personal

In a market saturated with cookie-cutter itineraries and checklist tourism, Chôm Chôm Travel is redefining what it means to experience Vietnam.

Founded in 2020 by Dorothée Perrault Le Hunsec, a mother of three from France, Chôm Chôm Travel is a heart-led business grounded in family values, slow travel, and a deep commitment to showcasing cultural authenticity. 

For Dorothée, the family-first ethos isn’t a marketing hook.

It’s the foundation of everything. She travels with her children to quality-check each experience and meet every local guide, ensuring each journey offered under the Chôm Chôm Travel banner is meaningful and safe.

“I’m not selling anything I wouldn’t want for my own family,” Dorothée said during our trip to Mai Châu, one of the most exciting up-and-coming community-led agri-tourism destinations in northern Vietnam. 

A Business Built on Trust and Integrity

In just five years, Chôm Chôm Travel has served approximately 6,000 trips through an expansive portfolio of over 200 bespoke experiences and with nearly 100 local guides across Vietnam. But the company’s growth has never come at the expense of its values.

Speaking at the AST Forum Ha Noi, Dorothée candidly shared how difficult it was in the early days to say no – to partnerships that didn’t align, to scaling too quickly, and to compromising for the sake of profit.

But her refusal to cut corners paid off. “Trust gives your company value,” she said, adding that prioritizing authenticity over profit helped her establish a strong reputation in the competitive market. 

That trust and credibility were on full display when AST joined Dorothée on a trip to Mai Châu. The warmth with which local communities welcomed Chôm Chôm Travel’s guests spoke to deep, long-standing relationships built on mutual respect.

Chôm Chôm Travel doesn’t just guide visitors, it creates the environment in which the communities and the landscapes themselves shape and share the stories travelers come to experience.

During our trip to Mai Châu, the AST team stayed at two different H’Mông homestays. Both host families shared that the income from guests was essential, especially during low-yield harvest seasons.

It’s a testament that when thoughtfully managed, tourism has the power to transform lives.

The Team Behind the Mission

Part of what makes Chôm Chôm Travel unique is its team — most of whom, including Dorothée herself, have no formal training in hospitality. Instead, their strength lies in their lived experiences and diverse backgrounds.

→ Read more about the team at Chôm Chôm Travel.

“Vietnam Isn’t a Checklist” – It’s a Living, Breathing Tapestry

While many travel companies eye expansion into neighboring countries or outbound travel, Dorothée’s focus remains rooted in Vietnam. “Our next chapter is not about going broader. It’s about going deeper,” she said. 

Her goal is to develop off-the-beaten-track experiences in as many provinces as possible, often taking up to 3 inspection trips per month. The result is that Chôm Chôm Travel gives travelers access to the diversity of Vietnam not through a screen, but through human connection.

→ Read more about Chôm Chôm Travel’s 20-day culinary journey.

FINAL CALL: A Meaningful Pacific Asia Tourism Economy Webinar

July 8, 2025, 15:00-16:30 (Bangkok Time, UTC +7)

As tourism across the Asia Pacific region continues its robust recovery, there is a growing call for destinations to look beyond traditional performance metrics and adopt a more holistic, values-based approach to development.

This means placing greater emphasis on community wellbeing, cultural preservation, visitor enrichment, and environmental stewardship.

Meaningful Tourism offers a strategic framework for this transformation—aligning long-term industry resilience with the needs, aspirations, and values of all stakeholders.

The phrase “A Meaningful Pacific Asia Tourism Economy” was officially adopted as the new Vision Statement of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) during the PATA Annual Summit in April 2025, marking a bold step forward in reimagining the future of tourism in the region.

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