The Quick Version…
Soksabike Tours is a local livelihoods tour, providing travelers with an insightful experience led by a knowledgeable local guide in the spirit of sound responsible tourism practices. Soksabike is in a unique position to grow and expand its value proposition and we’re looking for partners to help us do so.
Are you already envisioning a potential partnership with Soksabike? Imagining the benefits of combining efforts with a small but celebrated sustainable tourism/vocational training business? Have a business or an organization with a complementary product offering or capability? If so, fill out the form below to get in touch!
The Detailed Version…
KINYEI INTERNATIONAL is a social enterprise platform, founded in 2009, providing young Cambodians with meaningful pathways to employment, through on-the-job training in sustainable tourism and hospitality. At Kinyei young people develop transferable skills in English language, tourism and hospitality, technology, operations, financial management, and entrepreneurship.
Soksabike Tours is Kinyei International’s local livelihoods tour, providing travelers with an insightful experience led by a knowledgeable local guide in the spirit of sound responsible tourism practices.
Kinyei Café provides high-quality, specialty coffee for customers, and provides travelers, expats and locals with a safe space to collaborate and hold workshops.
Some of the high-level impact:
- 80+ youth trained and placed in careers
- Coached two national barista champions, both representing Cambodia at an international level
- Funded youth attendance at sustainable tourism and social enterprise conferences, international trips and exploration tours (to Laos, Thailand, etc).
- Winner: 2015 Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Award (as featured in the Khmer Times)
- Top Three: 2016 Tourism for Tomorrow People Award by the World Travel & Tourism Council (as featured in Travel Weekly)
- Created employee profit share trust and ownership scheme for local managers in Kinyei Cafe
- Kinyei and Soksabike alumni have continued on to great things: the graduates from Kinyei have pursued bigger dreams including working for an international NGO, managing a resort in Thailand, working as a guide at a multi-national bike tour company, higher degrees, and running their own businesses.
The Opportunity
Soksabike has just passed its sixth birthday and, as founders, we could not be more proud of Soksabike’s growth inside the team and inside the business. In considering alternative ways that Soksabike might evolve and sustain into the future, we see one component as key – partners.
Establishing and maintaining Soksabike as a front runner in sustainable tourism in Cambodia has truly been a journey. Today, Soksabike remains a strong competitor in the tourism market, continuing to offer value to its employees, the visitors, and the community we work in – and as long as our brand keeps on delivering value, that’s the biggest win for us.
Soksabike is in a unique position to grow – traditionally we have operated by a “small but beautiful” method of business, but we increasingly recognize that Soksabike could expand its value proposition even further if we were to partner with some kind of entity, either business or non-profit, that could increase our operational efficiency and/or our reach.
Are you already envisioning a potential partnership with Soksabike? Imagining the benefits of combining efforts with a small but celebrated sustainable tourism/vocational training business? Have a business or an organization with a complementary product offering or capability? If so, fill out the form below to get in touch!
You might be…
- a tour operator
- an organization
- a social enterprise
- a university
- none of the above, but still a potential match for Soksabike!
What are some of the things Soksabike could be looking for in a partner?
- baked in social impact
- onsite leadership
- volume or geographical scale
- maximising the value of the Soksabike, name and brand
- scaling of the model
- other things…
The Process
Stage 1: Sept 26 – Oct 14
You complete the Expression of Interest form; keep it simple! This form will serve as the basis for an initial conversation. We will get back to you within a couple of days of your submission, and book in an initial phone call/group hangout to get to know one another.
Stage 2: Sept 29 – Oct 20
We hang out – exactly that, we have a conversation over email or Hangout; co-create the potential partnership, provide context and exchange information. We’ll undertake a collaborative approach to exploring the possibilities. (If both parties agree, we might schedule subsequent calls within this timeframe.)
Stage 3: Approx Oct 21
We all sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a letter of intent.
Stage 4: Oct 21 – Nov 18
Together we finalise the partnership specifics and due diligence.
Stage 5: around Nov 18
Together we draft and then sign a Partnership Agreement.
Stage 6: Nov 30 – early 2017
Partnership launch.