Songtsam Hotels Resorts Tours, a boutique luxury group in Tibet, has been firmly committed to sustainability since its founding 20 years ago by Baima Duoji. Luxury travelers find Songtsam’s focus on supporting local communities and preserving the local culture especially appealing. According to a recent survey by Virtuoso, 82 percent of luxury travelers are looking to travel more sustainably and 72% were specifically interested in travel that supported local communities and preserved the local cultural heritage. Songtsam, with 92% of its employees from local villages, is definitely leading the way with these efforts.

SUPPORTING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Songtsam Lodge Namcha Barwa

Recently, at the March 2021 opening of the Songtsam Lodge Namcha Barwa, the Group’s 13th property, Mr. Baima, Songtsam Founder & Chairman, said “as Songtsam expands into the more remote Tibetan interiors, the Songtsam brand will become more closely connected with these geographic locales while at the same time contributing to the well being of the neighboring communities.”

In order to promote the development of the Dalin Village nearby to the Songtsam Lodge Namcha Barwa, Songtsam contributes 200 RMB (approx. $30 USD) from every room night sold, to Dalin. The goal is to help improve the Dalin Village’s living standards and support local development. Songtsam hopes that within two years, more than 60% of the hotel's staff will be from the surrounding villages.

Preserving Tibetan Culture & Driving Income to Local Villages |  

Nixi Black Pottery Making

Preserving the 2000 year old tradition of Nixi Black Pottery making is another Songtsam case study. Located in Shangri-La City, Diqing Prefecture, is the  home of the special ceramic art "Nixi Black Pottery". Almost on the verge of extinction because of the popularization of industrialized products, the household utensils used by local people have gradually been eliminated by the end of the last century. The entire industry is facing a great crisis, and traditional skills are also at risk of being lost. Songtsam Travel has integrated the Nixi Black Pottery-making cultural tradition into the guest experience. Songtsam's guests are taken to visit the traditional Tibetan villages of Nixi to experience pottery-making firsthand. This visit is then followed by a tasty meal of Nixi local chicken stewed in a black pottery pot. After experiencing the actual making of the very clay pottery that the chicken is then cooked in,  guests are always interested in buying the traditional handicraft pottery.  Now, Nixi’s craftsmen no longer worry about their livelihoods. This intangible cultural heritage has also been fully protected and has become a popular tourist product and experience.  Until now, Songtsam has generated 800,000 RMB (approx. $124,925.82 USD) in income for Nixi Tangdui Village through travel experience projects and 1 million RMB (approx. $156,157.28 USD) in revenue by driving the sales of goods, bringing a total of 1.8 million RMB (approx. $281,083.10 USD) in annual income to Tangdui Village. Every year the Songtsam Group spends more than 50 million RMB (approx. $7,807,864.00 USD) in capital expenditures for driving and cultivating rural industries.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Songtsam pays special attention to environmental sustainability in tectonic designs and construction. During the construction process of Songtsam Hotels and Lodges in Yunnan and Tibet provinces, cutting-edge technology has been applied to all aspects of design, construction, and water recycling.

Songtsam Lodge Ranwu, with an altitude of approx. 13,779 feet, stands at the highest altitude of all Songtsam hotels so far, appearing right in front of Ranwu Lake and as well as Laigu glaciers to the west. With the prime consideration given to the preservation of the natural environment and Tibetan cultural heritage, the building was designed as modular prefabrication, embedded under a high cliff, hidden from sight, despite the difficult construction challenges. 

Houses That Can "Breathe" | Songtsam’s “Wooden-Structure Architecture”

Songtsam’s architectural design philosophies include using local materials, adapting to local conditions, and living in harmony with nature. From the main structure to decorations, most of Songtsam’s lodges are built in brick-wood structures and are made of wood recycled from abandoned buildings or from trees that have naturally fallen, due to Tibet’s logging ban. The buildings in Tibet’s villages in the natural environment have moderate sizes and traditional architectural modeling. 

REVERENCE FOR NATURE | Treading Lightly

Songtsam Tours focus on the protection of the environment as well. While the itineraries bring tourists close to nature, they tread lightly to ensure that their visits are in harmony with the surrounding environment.

All Songtsam lodges that are located among the Hengduan Mountains in the area of the Three Parallel Rivers, are surrounded by natural beauty and plenty of flora. With the goal of educating their guests about the natural ecosystem while enjoying the magnificent natural scenery, Songtsam organizes tours to learn about the complex plants within this area, especially alpine flowers. 

Youth Wildlife Photography Training Camp - Youth Nature Education 

This August (2021), in Southeastern Tibet, Songtsam and its partners will continue the 17-year-old Chinese Wildlife Photography Training Camp of Wild China, and combine the professionalism of Qixing Camp Education for youth nature education with photography to create a brand new, Youth Wildlife Photography Training Camp. In this training camp, young people will have the opportunity to follow the master photographers/nature teachers and learn about the wild animals and plants living in this area of Tibet where glaciers and forests are intertwined, and snow-capped mountains and meadows echo. This photography training camp will enable these young photographers to locate and photograph rare and beautiful species such as the brown-tailed rainbow pheasant, red goral, and the Tibetan Cypripedium.  This unique photography camp will encourage them to discover the beauty and vitality of the world around them, not just through a lens, but in real life. 

ANIMAL PROTECTION

The Tibetan Eared Pheasant Charity Program

There were a large number of the national second-class protected Tibetan Eared Pheasant in the forest around Meili Snow Mountain. However, as a result of hunting and ecological changes, they have almost all disappeared. Cooperating with Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, Songtsam launched the Tibetan Eared Pheasant Charity Program to restore the population which introduces hatching eggs from Markam County, Tibet, and operating incubators in the mountain next to Songtsam Lodge Meili. The first group of Tibetan-eared pheasants farmed and nurtured by the Songtsam staff have been successfully released back to nature.