Haivenu

 What is the Haivenu?
It's a tiny orchid that grows only on the craggy limestone cliffs of the islands in Ha Long Bay in north-east Vietnam. Its botanical name is 'paphiopedilium concolor', known in Vietnam as the 'yellow slipper orchid' after its dainty blossoms. Despite its diminutive size, it's a determined survivor, clinging tightly to niches in the rocks faces defying baking sun and torrential rain.

We chose the Haivenu as our logo partly for its striking beauty, but mostly it expresses the qualities that we want for our company.

The Haivenu is rare and unique to Vietnam. We're one of a tiny number of travel companies that can offer you a genuine tailor-made luxury private tour or holiday at an affordable price.

Like the Haivenu, we're tenacious. Nothing is too much trouble for us: we apply the highest standards of quality to everything we do.

Having the Haivenu as our logo also reminds us of our commitment to conserving the environment of our beautiful country. We avoid 'ecotourism' in environmentally sensitive areas and encourage our customers to travel with light footsteps. Viet Nam is a beautiful country with a rich culture: we want to keep it that way.

We are a young Vietnam tour operator, committed to providing top-quality, personalised service and fully sustainable tourism. Our mission is to provide you with a memorable experience of the real Vietnam by avoiding the usual tourist routes in favour of unspoilt landscapes, unusual attractions and the fascination of the daily life of ordinary people. We want you to carry home the image of the Haivenu to remind you of our remarkable country - exciting, exotic, safe and friendly.

  Our People 
At present, we have twelve specialists who work as a tightly-knit team totally committed to responsible tourism. Apart from our housekeeper, all are university graduates and all speak fluent English.

Managing Director: Ha (Ms. Vo Thi Bich Ha, B.A. English, Dalat)
After several years in the tourism business, Ha founded Haivenu on Christmas Day, 2000. Since then, she has established it as a successful international tourism company and Vietnam's leading specialist tour operator. Apart from running the business and training the staff, she's an excellent swimmer, a talented painter and an aficionado of rock music. She has ambitious plans for Haivenu - she's already opened a branch in Ho Chi Minh City and plans further offices in the UK, Cambodia and Thailand. She runs the company as a family, but insists on the highest standards of professionalism.

Tour Manager: Tuan (Mr. Dong Minh Tuan, B.A. Tourism, B.A. English, Hanoi)
Tuan oversees the whole tour operation. Bearing in mind that each of the hundreds of tours is completely customised, it's a big job. His speciality is the 'unusual' request - he's the person who others turn to when customers want something way out of the ordinary. Tuan's main interest is travelling, but enjoys reading about culture and history and listening to music - particularly the saxophone. However, he became a father early in 2006, so what little leisure time he had before has now vanished!


Tour Operator: Phong (Mr. Phan Ngoc Truong Phong, B.A. Tourism, Ho Chi Minh City)
Phong is currently our newest recruit. Originally from Sa Dec, a small town on the Mekong Delta, he moved to Ho Ch Minh City in 1998 to gain his qualification and now lives there. He's spent the last few month training in our Hanoi headquarters, and has now returned South to work as a tour operator in Haivenus branch in Saigon. He describes his ideal activity for relaxing as "escaping the city with a group of friends to find a quiet beach with a cool breeze". Despite his good looks, soft voice and impecccable manners, Phong is still footloose and fancy-free!

Tour Operator: Hang (Ms Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, B.A. English, Hanoi)
Hang has been with us for couple of years and during that time she's acquired a husband and a baby in quick succession. "He's a wonderful man, faithful, hard-working and romantic" is how she describes her spouse.

As well as being a tour operator, Hang is our 'Queen of the hotels' - setting up contracts, managing our comprehensive database of Vietnam's hotels, and updating the information on our web site. She's careful, methodical and has a good memory, vital qualities for dealing with around 200 hotels and resorts.

Tour Operator: Huong (Ms. Le Diem Huong, B.A. English, B. A. Tourism Management, Hanoi)
Huong is "27 and still available", but that's a cover-up because she enjoys her freedom! With classical music, reading, singing and dancing as hobbies, boyfriends are low priority. She's patient, likes detailed work, wants everything to be perfect, and is a highly skilled tour operator. She's also an excellent example of good customer service. She starts with customers and finishes with friends - her feedback ratings are always top notch. Huong is full of fun, but treats her work very seriously. "The more I work in this industry, the more I love it" she says. Towards the end of 2005, she moved to Ho Chi Minh City to set-up Haivenu's branch office. Now it's established, she'll soon return to Hanoi to assist Tuan.

Cashier/legal adviser: Sam (Ms Nguyen Thi Quynh Sam)
Sam another arrival straight from University in Phu Yen, a province nearly a thousand kilometres away to the south. A couple of months ago, she decided Haivenu was the only company for her and moved to Hanoi to join us. Unusual in Vietnam, she's fiercely independent. She travelled north alone and refused all offers of help from her family in finding accommodation - not bad for a young lady who hadn't been much further than her home town. Sam has already settled into city life and is making new friends. She's currently improving her English in evening classes - she's ambitious as well.

Housekeeper: Chi Be (Ms Bui Thi Ha)
Chi Be means Mrs. Small in Vietnamese. Her real name is Ha, the same as our Managing Director, so to avoid confusion she's acquired a highly accurate nickname - she's tiny (but also has the loudest voice!).

Chi Be is our only staff member without a degree, but is one of the most important employees - she keeps the offices spotlessly clean, provides excellent meals, supplies plants and flowers (and keeps them alive) and, using her tool box, makes running repairs as well as a host of other tasks.

  A few of our guides:

Mr. Phan Xuan Tinh (B.A. English, Hanoi)
Mr. Tinh has a degree in English, ten years of experience, and is our senior guide. He's a mine of information and anecdotes about every aspect of Vietnam, and seems to possess limitless energy. He loves his job - despite his maturity, he still gets excited as a child when interpreting the history of a battle or ritual. His enthusiasm is highly infectious. He is keenly interested in singing and traditional folk songs.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quynh (B.A. English, B.A. Tourism, Hanoi)
Mr. Quynh's has degrees in both English and Tourism. His personality is the antithesis of Mr. Tinh. He's Haivenu's 'Mr. Cool' - always immaculately turned out, with the latest 'shades'. He comes from a small village near Hanoi, famous for traditional Quah Ho singing - he's always looking for an opportunity to take groups there to meet his friends and relatives. His laid back image slipped when he became a father recently, but he's now back to normal! In the little free time he has, he enjoys art, and music, and is an avid reader.

These are just two examples of over a hundred of Vietnam's best freelance guides. All have official contracts to work with us, are fully registered, and have been chosen for their fluency in English, their knowledge of their local culture and history, and the strength of their personality.

We keep closely in touch with each one and regularly update their profiles on our large database. Because our customers are highly individual, we want to make sure your guide 'fits' you and the places you're going to visit.

Company Details 

Haivenu's registration details, licence to operate, and company information:

 Haivenu Vietnam:
Haivenu is a registered Vietnamese company affiliated to the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA - Vietnam Chapter), and the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). We are a private business, one of the first travel agents to be granted an official international operating licence by the Vietnamese government. Our registration details are below.

 Haivenu UK:
Haivenu is a registered UK company. We are protected by ATOL and TOPP policy. Haivenu UK was registered in 2001 and started to fully operate from May 2007 to offer more convenience to clients in the UK and also more facilities to clients worldwide. Our registration details are below.