“When tourists use local transportation they are not only traveling, they are also helping the people of Cambodia. The money they pay the driver will be spent in other local businesses and the economy will improve. Every time tourists use a travel agency, their money is lost to the community, because the businesses do not belong to the local population. If a group of 20 people come to see my country and they choose to use a bus, how many people will be working for them? The answer is just two: one driver and one tour guide. If they use local transportation (either a car, a van or a tuc tuc) they will be employing between 10 and 20 people. You might ask, what about the guide and the bus driver? They could also find employment easily if tourists used local transportation alone. The only reason why they accept employment from travel agencies is because they see other drivers struggling to find customers. Today I went to the bus station and the airport and I couldn’t find any customers because they were all traveling in groups with buses waiting for them. How am I suppose to find tourists if they travel this way? When you choose to get a driver, you choose to help us improve our income, you invest in the community, and you help us forge ourselves a brighter future. ”
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