Khiri’s founder, Willem Niemeijer, had worked in the Thai travel industry since 1987, the year of the highly successful “Visit Thailand” campaign. In 1992, Willem was amongst the first group of journalists and travelers to journey overland from Bangkok to Danang in Vietnam. From there, he continued his solo travels to Cambodia.
Meanwhile, Khiri’s co-founder, Frans Betgem, was leading adventurous tours in Vietnam. Despite having to work with the country’s heavy-handed bureaucracy, he traveled up and down Vietnam at least 15 times.
These travel experiences were the inspiration to start Khiri Travel. The company first started as a DMC dedicated to offering these four countries as one incredible destination.
As a leading destination management company, Khiri Travel delivers creative and personalized itineraries with the highest standard of service to discerning tour operators worldwide. We hold ourselves accountable for the triple-bottom line:
People • Planet • Profit
VISION
It is their goal that their passionately designed travel experiences – regardless of travel style and budget – provide unforgettable, high-quality experiences for their travelers as well as an effortless, inspiring way to contribute positively to the conservation of communities and destinations they travel to.
The four founding principles are Passion, Global & Local Presence, Trust, Creativity & Innovation.
Passion
The passion of Khiri Travel’s founders is at the core of their business: a passion for travel, their destinations, and its people
Sharing that passion with their clients, travelers, suppliers, and communities they work with
Surpass each traveler’s expectations; they only succeed when their clients rave about their trip
Take pride in working together as a team
Global & Local Presence
Each of their regional office teams are experts in their destination and proud to share this knowledge
They understand the needs of their global clients and tailor unique experiences that inspire and educate to these needs,
They embrace the cultures, geographies, and ways of life of their clients and seek opportunities to share their own
Giving back by supporting local communities and acting as environmentally concerned global citizens
Trust
They deliver on time, on budget, and with a smile
They treat their team as a family, their clients, and suppliers as friends
They value long-lasting relationships over short-term gains or losses
They help their team members to succeed
Creativity & Innovation
They seek new challenges, improve themselves and never accept the status quo
They keep abreast of trends and have confidence in the success of their initiatives
They express creativity that is aligned with the triple bottom line
They make it their business to create experiences that capture the essence of the place
Sustainability
Khiri Travel's Corporate Sustainability Policies
Being a trusted destination management company (DMC) means the world to us. For over 30 years, they are devoted to keeping their travel business responsible. They commit to:
Comply with all relevant legislation and embed sustainable tourism principles into our core business
Use our business position to drive sustainability within our destinations;
Preserve our environment and continually improve our environmental performance
Optimize our social impact to enhance local livelihoods;
Provide information, training, and support to our staff and external partners, to engage them towards sustainability
Provide sustainable information about our products to encourage our clients to opt for sustainable travel options
Travelife Certified
Travelife is a training, management and certification initiative for tourism companies committed to reaching greater sustainability. The Travelife system aims to help DMCs, tour operators and travel agencies manage and improve social, environmental and economic impacts (the triple-bottom line) by complying with over 200 sustainability criteria.
In January 2020, Khiri Travel became the very first DMC to be Travelife certified in all destinations.
Khiri Travel: Sustainable Supply Chain Policy
At Khiri Travel, they understand that they are only as sustainable as their supply chain. They have developed guidelines and practices, in which they:
Only select those who are compliant with local regulations
Give high priority to locally established business and/or local people
Have zero tolerance on child labor (under 14 years old), children exploitation and/or abuse
Avoid working with those who disrupt the provision of basic services for local communities and/or generate negative effects on local environment
Give high priority to those who demonstrate commitment toward responsible and sustainable travel
Prefer those who agree to sign contracts in which sustainability clauses are included
They commit to support their service providers toward greater sustainability by providing training sessions, materials and knowledge when possible.
Khiri Travel: Partnerships & Sponsorships
They sponsor and partner with international and local organizations to tap into their areas of expertise and to ensure they're addressing our social and environmental impacts adequately. You can see our partner logos at the bottom of the page.
Beyond expectations! Then again we weren't sure what to expect. Lovely stay at the lodge, met other like-minded travelers (many had their trips planned by Adventure Life) and the owner was a gracious hostess. It felt like you were one happy family, visiting with a favorite aunt.
Nancy Sin
6 hours ago
Very responsive to questions. Helpful with all arrangements
Roz
1 day ago
The ship company they sent us on was perfect in every detail
lisa wegener
2 days ago
I’m so glad we found AdventureLife. Jess, our planner, was such a pleasure to work with. She readily shared her extensive knowledge about Panama, she offered good suggestions and creative ideas, kept everything organized and handled the details each step of the way.
Tim King
3 days ago
Jessica was wonderful! She made every effort to ensure our trip was just what we wanted.
Celine Krafft
3 days ago
Erin was easy to work with and very helpful. She was patient and helped us figure out the adventure tour we were hoping for in Belize. Can’t wait to go on this trip!
