How to explore Asia like a savvy traveller, while avoiding the tourist hordes
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How to explore Asia like a savvy traveller, while avoiding the tourist hordes
John Tue Nguyen, head honcho of luxury travel specialist Trails of Indochina, spills the beans on Asia's cache of hidden gems.
John Tue Nguyen is the founder of Trails of Indochina. (Photo: Trails of Indochina)
27 Dec 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 21 May 2022 02:58PM)
Twenty years ago, John Tue Nguyen was working every bit a guide shepherding pocket-size groups of tourists effectually his native Hue, Vietnam's old imperial capital, when information technology occurred to him that there was a market for high-finish immersive experiences that showcased Vietnam at its near authentic.
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"I saw the opportunity clearly in my mind. And at the time, no other company was filling that gap," he told CNA Luxury. Encouraged, he launched Trails of Indochina, a bazaar agency that specialises in luxury, experiential travel. "Most immediately, nosotros got business from the Smithsonian Museum and the American Museum of Natural History. I curated their programmes and escorted their members through Vietnam and Indochina. It was a huge boost for us to be able to practise that and we picked up momentum from there."
Today, Trails of Indochina has 250 employees seeded in offices beyond South E Asia, Europe and the U.s. – a bona fide byword amongst savvy, cashed-up travellers for its range of bespoke experiences that take them to hyper-exclusive cultural and special interest nooks in fifty-fifty the most aggressively touristy spots. Recent offerings have included visits to the Kyoto atelier of a principal weaver of kimonos, and taking private lessons in Shodo, an ancient Japanese mode of calligraphy.
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"Our demographic has always been well-travelled people with money," said Nguyen. "It is true that younger people have more disposable income, and we have evolved to cater to that tendency. Just it's not really almost age. It'southward more well-nigh attracting travellers who see the value in accurate, hands-on, local experiences."
Over the years, Nguyen – who, these days, divides his fourth dimension between Hue and California – has fine-tuned his approach to delivering the immersive metric by working from a starting signal of key themes that include culinary, philanthropy, wellness, and agile. Everything else – whether hotels, meals, guides and even mode of transportation – is and then built up, layer by layer.
The offerings are both broad-based and aspirational, invariably pitched at a level that's inaccessible to nearly travellers because of their rarity and cost. Fees tin range from Usa$500 (S$677) to U.s.a.$1000 per person, per twenty-four hour period based on twin share. Nguyen recounts long and patient negotiations with the elders of an indigenous Hmong community in Ha Giang, a remote mountain province in northern Vietnam, to open a festival they concur each calendar month to his guests.
"They were very reluctant at first. Vietnam'due south ethnic minorities have frequently had a troubled human relationship with the kinh people (Vietnam'southward majority ethnic group, accounting for over 85 per cent of the population) and they did non accept kindly to having usa at that place. In fact, they even locked us up for 48 hours in a local home where they barely fed u.s. and gave us filthy water. We somewhen made in-roads with i of the local villagers and he helped smooth the way with the community chiefs."
"It is truthful that younger people have more than disposable income, and we have evolved to cater to that tendency. Only it's not really well-nigh historic period. It'south more about attracting travellers who encounter the value in accurate, hands-on, local experiences." – John Tue Nguyen
Such commitment to the crusade is par for the course and, in many ways, it explains the quality of the offerings. A crown jewel of Trails of Indochina's repertoire is the contempo completion of renovations of five ancient royal houses in Hue. Once homes to the relatives of the Vietnamese emperors Khai Dinh and Tu Duc, they were, by the time Nguyen took them over in the 1990s, crumbled reminders of their heyday. Xx years and US$iii million after, they now welcome a new generation of aristocracy guests.
"The restoration has been a labour of love for me," Nguyen said. "Hue is like nowhere else in Vietnam. The original amuse is all the same intact. This project is a style for me to exit some kind of legacy and also to ensure that the city'due south heritage and character are preserved."
Not that Nguyen is resting on his honor. There is too much to exercise, and competitors – among them, Abercrombie + Kent, and Remote Lands – to stay ahead of. To that end, he is constantly evolving his products and innovating, including expanding his market place offerings across Southeast Asia into East Asian nations such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Nippon.
Changing demographics besides present their own challenges. While baby boomers might still prefer to anchor their itineraries to big name luxury brands such as Aman and Six Senses, "younger travellers are more open up to immersing themselves in local civilization and history and learning more about different aspects of the countries they visit."
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In 2020, a sister company Heritage Line launches itineraries on the upper Mekong in Laos on a new custom-congenital boat, Anouvong. "We as well find travel trends such as multi-generational family trips and solo female travellers," said Ngyuen. "Another sister visitor, Indotrek has been reworked from an adventure company into a specialist in active travel that caters to younger travellers who are interested in hands-on, cultural immersion."
Nguyen is particuarly bullish near his Ultra Luxury sectionalisation, which will also launch next yr. For now, details are guarded and limited only to the fact that the new service will feature highly customised and personalised services, and cater to celebrities, VVIPs, and individual jet clients.
"From the beginning, Trails of Indochina has approached travel from a very considered, refined perspective. We know intimately all the very best hotels and high-terminate experiences in the region. It takes a lot of skill and noesis to evangelize to clients who are willing to pay over US$l,000 for travel experiences and itineraries. These people look the ultimate in luxury and they don't care to be disappointed."
"It takes a lot of skill and noesis to deliver to clients who are willing to pay over US$l,000 for travel experiences and itineraries. These people expect the ultimate in luxury and they don't care to be disappointed." – John Tue Nguyen
Today's travellers, Nguyen added, especially in the UHNWI category, are more than willing to explore and they accept certain expectations. Novelty is key, a quality 1 might imagine would exist increasingly hard to find in a world that's already so connected and democratised.
Ngyuen, though, is quick to disagree, pointing to subconscious gems in Borneo and the mountains of northern Vietnam. "Accept southern Laos for instance," he added. "It sees very footling footfall, but at that place are numerous fascinating things to detect in that location such as java plantations, natural wetlands, and historic sites. We are currently developing the Kingfisher eco-lodge in Pakse which will exist a very heady add-on to our portfolio. There is even so plenty of telescopic to open upward these secondary destinations and develop great experiential travel for customers."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/luxury-travel-asia-177026
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