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By
Melissa Stewart
01 Dec 2024 06:15AM (Updated: 01 Dec 2024 06:30AM)
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Two decades ago in 2004, Melita Koulmandas was exploring Cambodia’s Koh Rong archipelago with her former partner on a rented fishing boat when, on the last day, the pair stumbled upon two tiny rainforest islands.
“A fisherman was living on one of the islands. He was describing how the waters have become so overfished that it was becoming harder and harder to feed his family,” Koulmandas, who is Greek-Australian, recounted.
Since the fisherman intended to move back to the mainland, he asked if Koulmandas was interested in buying the island. “It was just a very unexpected stroke of serendipity,” she said. “I said yes, for no other reason other than I had such an extraordinary experience [travelling around the islands].”
The cost? US$15,000 (around S$20,150). “I went up to Phnom Penh, did all the paperwork, came back to the island and put my thumbprint on a piece of paper. The family took the money in a brown paper bag and sailed back up to the mainland.”
At first, Koulmandas had no plans to open a resort. “The island was covered in rubbish. The reef was dying. I started speaking with the local community at a nearby island and learned quite quickly how fragile the ecosystem really was,” she said.
What ensued was a major regeneration and clean-up project. Together with local village chiefs, Koulmandas established Cambodia’s first protected marine reserve with the aim to safeguard the islands’ reefs and marine life. Song Saa Private Island then opened almost a decade later in 2012 with the aim to provide employment opportunities for local villagers and “to sustain the work that we were doing,” said Koulmandas.
“I had seen the impact of being able to pay people to help with the clean-up and how it impacted their livelihoods. For the first time, women were able to work because over the past 10 years, it was just men fishing. Seeing the impact that had on creating double income families who were able to put their children in school was really profound.”
“We also wanted to showcase the beauty of Cambodia and its islands,” Koulmandas continued. At the time, “Cambodia was only known for the Khmer Rouge. People couldn’t point it out on a map and those who could only heard of Ang Kor Wat,” she said. “This country has gone through so much; it’s a story of positivity, human resilience and healing.”
Today, Song Saa Private Island encompasses the two islands, Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, which are connected by a footbridge over the gazetted marine reserve. The resort is approximately a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Phnom Penh and a 45-minute flight from Siem Reap.
There are 24 thatch-roofed villas divided into categories of Overwater, Jungle and Ocean View, all built using sustainable materials. Each villa features all the ritzy elements one would expect of a luxury resort, from daybeds to indoor and outdoor showers and private pools. The overwater villas also feature glass floor panels for a view of the marine life.
Koulmandas says that the resort’s biggest guest demographic is honeymooners. The name Song Saa, after all, means “sweatheart” in the Khmer language. “We are also very family-friendly, so we see guests from infants to toddlers, to primary school kids and teenagers, right up to people in their 70s and 80s.”
Some of Song Saa’s signature experiences include a night swim to see bioluminescent plankton in the sea, an underwater guided meditation session, a monk blessing ceremony and a visit to the nearby local fishing village, which is supported by the Song Saa Foundation, the company’s non-profit arm led by Koulmandas.
Founded in 2013, the foundation aims to champion community and environmental programmes that preserve the natural environment and improve the welfare of local communities. Its initiatives include medical missions, education programmes, a tropical marine monitoring programme and more.
The company’s latest endeavour is the Song Saa Reserve, an integrated resort which will include multiple hotels, resorts and residential properties committed to sustainability. The reserve will be situated on a 200 ha plot of land in Siem Reap, adjacent to the Banteay Srei temple. It is around a 45-minute drive from Ang Kor Wat. Once a primary rainforest, the land has since become degraded due to illegal logging activities.
“The vision here is to bring awareness outside of Siem Reap town and to bring livelihood opportunities to another region of Cambodia. We have started a massive reforestation project and the mission is to regenerate the land and create a mix of not-for-profit and commercial projects,” shared Koulmandas. Aside from hotels and residential properties, Song Saa Reserve will also have a hospitality training centre, learning centre and other conservation initiatives.
Here, Koulmandas shares more insights on the evolution of sustainable and regenerative tourism, the changing definition of luxury and her journey in hospitality entrepreneurship.
A decade ago, Song Saa Private Island pioneered the idea of sustainable tourism. How do you think sustainable tourism has changed over the years? What does Song Saa do differently?
When we opened 10 years ago, no one bothered that we had no single use plastics and no plastics straws. So if we use that as a benchmark, it has changed. But the travel industry is a bit of a dinosaur. There’s so much innovation in so many other industries, but the hotel industry is slowly catching up. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a real shift, which is great to see.
But I think the idea of sustainability is not enough. We need a monumental shift in the way we live our lives, and regenerative tourism is a huge part of that. Sustainability looks to do less harm while regenerative tourism is the design and development of interventions and initiatives that contribute to the evolution of larger systems. We can’t look at our hotel in isolation. We need to look at systems around where the hotel is located. How does the local community live? How does the environment thrive? Where is the degradation?
Song Saa was founded on the story of regenerating a small island and dying reef system and has been engaging in regenerative tourism for over 10 years. This means that we have had to deeply understand our place in order to uniquely contribute to it. We continue to do this by engaging with collective intelligence – from each other, from science through the Song Saa Foundation and so on.
How does Song Saa integrate regenerative design principles into its operations and guest experiences?
At its core, regenerative design focuses on understanding and respecting the unique qualities of a place, seeing it as a living system with its own potential. We’re designing to enhance the systems that sustain and evolve life in response to changing conditions.
Which sounds like a lot of words without real world context! Operationally at Song Saa, we’re very clear on the systems that we’re working on. When we’re working on our marine system, for example, we’re looking at the interdependencies and relationships that exist. For instance, the local economy relies on a marine system that is abundant for their livelihoods, so we co-create initiatives with locals to ensure that they are developing themselves to design fishing practices that will create abundance and life in that system while also sustaining their thriving community.
If we look at this example as it relates to the guest experience, guests won’t always be able to have “fresh-that-day” fish on the menu if the conditions to catch the fish aren’t right. Other high-end properties might go, literally, to the ends of the earth to give the guest what they’ve requested but we treat our guests as participants of this living, regenerative project.
An area where we are integrating regenerative design principles into our operations and guest experiences is through our food sourcing programme that we developed that tracks the carbon footprint of all the food and beverage at Song Saa Private Island. We connect guests with the unique qualities of our place and when we do that, they always respect and understand because we design stewardship into their experience.
How has the definition of luxury travel changed?
It has shifted a lot. At Song Saa, we no longer use the term luxury, we prefer to say high-end, responsible tourism. Luxury still has the connotation of grand, which has its place as well. But in the context of a country like Cambodia, a country that is still healing and finding its own identity, it’s more relevant to say high-end, responsible tourism.
In luxury travel, there is now a desire for authenticity and connection. People don’t want to just go to a nice hotel, have a nice experience and go back to their little cocoon. They want to learn something as they travel, and they want to meet people, like local artisans who can offer unique insights into the culture and history of a place.
You started Song Saa Private Island without any experience in hospitality. What are some lessons that you’ve learned throughout your entrepreneurship journey?
Being open to learning is incredibly important. I went into this knowing nothing and I still have much to learn. Being able to adapt and evolve is also key. As an entrepreneur, the day always brings something different and you always have to reassess and adapt. Don’t be afraid of mistakes, but be quick to recognise them so you can shift and grow.
How can we be more responsible travellers?
Read about the culture of your destination before you go. You can always arrive at a place and learn as you go, but make sure you understand the culture so that you are able to respect it. Be curious and ask questions, and always be mindful of local customs and traditions. Sensitivity to the local culture is really important.