Wanderlust with purpose: global citizenship and how travel inspires cultural exchange

Do you know what's cool about being a content creator in the travel industry? Getting to go on a familiarization trip and sharing fascinating cultures with others!

At Klook, our Marketing team loves thinking outside the box to execute their travel campaigns, and one of them is planning familiarization (also referred to as 'fam' or 'famil') trips to a destination with influencers. One Klooker, in particular, has been actively looking after this as a well-traveled global citizen who is always up for new adventures and networking events, as well as enjoys immersing herself in different cultures.

Let's do a drum roll for... Hannah Chiu from our ANZ team!

Hannah Chiu

Marketing Associate, Sydney

Hannah is an Aussie local and works in our ANZ Marketing team. Although she calls Sydney home, she’s also lived in North America and traveled around the States, South Pacific, Europe, Asia, and Australia. 

At work, she manages content and organizes famil trips for travel campaigns in partnership with international tourism boards and operators. Her professional and life experience closely resonates with that of a global citizen at Klook. We sat down with her to chat about the intersection of global citizenship and travel. Let's get right into it!

In the past year you've been on a few famil trips overseas, how have these changed your perspectives about your work at Klook? 

I think traveling is one of the best and most fun ways to experience various cultures, make new mates, and broaden your horizons and understanding of the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to do a bit of traveling during my time at Klook and these trips have helped me become more thoughtful and mindful of different cultures. 

My most recent famil trip was a content creation trip to Phuket and Krabi that I hosted in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand. A challenge we faced in the planning process was how to showcase this region beyond what it’s stereotypically known for. 

Aussies would most likely associate Thai tourism with beaches, Pad Thai and ladyboys. To be completely honest, I didn’t know much about Thailand or its culture either until I started preparing the famil itinerary. I took notice of the different perspectives and practices between our two countries and cultures, including on topics like sustainability, animal rights, religion, and ‘herbs’. 

For example, instead of avoiding unethical shows and elephant riding simply because we know it’s frowned upon in Western cultures, we learned about the history behind the roles of elephants in war, labor, and transportation as well as its association with power in Thailand.

During the actual famil, besides covering a lot of ground from tourist hotspots like James Bond Island and the Big Buddha, we also visited cultural hideaways like Khlong Prasong and Maharaj Morning Markets. We were even educated on herbal health at a legal cannabis farm and learned about varying cultural perceptions of the use of cannabis in cuisines and healthcare.

With the sheer amount that I’ve learned from this Thailand campaign, I’ve become even more aware of how much I actually don’t know about many cultures. I’m ready to buckle up for another round of cultural learning for my next campaign! 

How do you aspire to bring the world closer together through your work? We’ve heard you and your team have organized several local events to connect travelers! 

“Bringing the world closer together through experiences” has always been Klook’s heartbeat. Our platform itself is designed to make unfamiliar experiences more accessible to people. For example, our local BD team has been onboarding First Nations experiences that allow travelers to learn more about Australia’s heritage from the traditional custodians of our country. 

But at a more local level, our team has organized and hosted several trivia nights themed around different destinations to engage both culture vultures and pub trivia enthusiasts in general. By providing prizes such as return flights and travel experience vouchers which are quite high in value, participants were more incentivized to ‘study’ a culture deeper to increase their odds of winning. 

Awareness is a great first step for people to start engaging with different cultures. Whether it’s through activation at local universities chatting to the next generation of travelers, a trending Instagram reel, or a top-ranking Google article, I hope that anything our team creates somehow ignites a spark for someone to be curious about other cultures and places. 

Being global-minded is easier said than done. What are your tips on keeping an open mind to new experiences and embracing different cultures?

My top tip is to start saying “yes!” although it’s usually the opposite of how we’re inclined to react to most things that are unfamiliar. The world is so huge, diverse, and intriguing. I can’t think of a better way to open our eyes and minds to what’s out there than through travel. 

In my life so far, I’ve found that the most enriching experiences and relationships have been formed outside my comfort zone, especially when I traveled solo. It’s always daunting at first to be in an unfamiliar location without anyone by your side as a safety net. But the more we ‘push our boundaries’ and keep an open mind, the easier it gets to appreciate different cultures and experiences. And the more people we meet, the more we realize that the common ground we stand on is bigger than we first thought. 

I’ve really appreciated all the chats I’ve had with locals in places I’ve traveled to. I’ve been inspired by the ways in which we learn from and value each other’s knowledge, perspectives, and lived experiences despite being from totally different backgrounds. Being exposed to other cultures helps us be more open to different things. It prompts us to reconsider “Is this ‘weird’ or is it just something I haven’t grown up with?“ 

Hoping to bring the world closer together through experiences?

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   Posted by Klook Careers