The youthful 52-year-old veteran agent Anthony Wong started Asian Overland Services Tours and Travel (AOS) as a two-man show and made a name for pioneering eco/green products and practising sustainable tourism. The company has since evolved into a big hospitality company adding conventions/events, hotel and training divisions to the inbound agency.
Company philosophy
Business with a conscience. For example, when promoting longhouse stay in Sabah and Sarawak we use the services of the local guides and limit visits to twice a week to reduce the environmental impact. We have expanded the longhouses we use with more rooms and gave the residents free boats and water tanks. We also created jobs for the local community and, subsequently, increased their income.
Share my knowledge by speaking at conferences worldwide without charging a fee and helping with “Train the trainer” programmes. Empowering my staff.
Most trying period
The SARS epidemic in 2003. There was no business during the outbreak as no one was travelling.
Overcoming the challenge
As we have always been prudent we have money saved, which was used to tide us over this lean period. We did not retrench any staff, did not cut their salaries or reduce the working days. Instead we used the time for training and to do direct sales.
We will continue to be prudent in our expenses so we can face any untoward incidents in future. As most economists are predicting that the world may go into recession in one or two years’ time we want to be financially strong to face the downtrend.
Ultimate goal
•Leave a legacy of responsible business.
•Continue to pioneer new eco products/ tours as I derive a lot of fun doing it. This is because I am doing it out of passion and not for money.
•Continue to involve the local communities so as to improve their livelihood and, with their help, promote sustainable tourism.
•Continue to build on the strength or our team. We have a good team, which is very important for the success of the business.
On the personal side: I want to empower my staff to take over the day-to-day operations of the company so I can retire as an educator and share my knowledge with the industry. And to spend more time with my family and friends.
Side Bar:
32 years at a glance:
Name of organisation: AOS Tourism and Hospitality Group
Year established: 1976
Type of organisation: Privately owned
No of offices/branches: Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur; branches in Penang, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) and Kuching (Sarawak)
