We are the best gatekeepers to the Roof of the World for all of our global friends. We take that privilege very seriously. And we are committed to having as much fun doing it as we can. Because when we have fun, our clients have fun. So, how do we build a culture of learning, excellence-in-service and fun among our staff and tour guides? Tsering Tso found the answer this fall.

Tsering Tso is Extravagant Yak’s logistics manager and one of our top guides. She said, “Hey guys, why don’t we host a banquet in Chengdu and treat all of our guides to a night in a 5-star hotel?” We all said, “Tsering, you had us at, ‘hey guys.’ That is a brilliant idea.” It was easy to get excited about the idea because it was directly in line with our values for celebration, generosity, and fun!

Our guides are the bridge between this exotic land and our clients. They love Tibet. And they love showing it off to guests. All of our tour guides are from Kham or Amdo Tibetan areas. In the past few years that we’ve worked with them, we’ve continued to discover just how hard-working, knowledgeable, and attention-to-detail they are.

They are proficient in Tibetan, Chinese and English. A few of them even speak good French. They are continually improving their knowledge and expertise of these areas, of environmental stewardship and of Tibetan history and culture. They are all gifted storytellers.

They bring travellers deeper into this land, its people and its culture. While guiding, there are no breaks. They are always on, whether it's answering the questions posed to them in the moment or planning the next meal or juggling logistics. They, more than anyone, need a generous reward and a “job well done” spoken over them.

So we did it. Six of our top guides as well as the entire Extravagant Yak staff checked in to the Fraser Suites hotel in downtown Chengdu. We reserved a board room for the afternoon and after some hilarious ice breaker games, we reviewed the Extravagant Yak story and ethos and opened the floor for guides to share their feedback and highlights of the year.

We closed with a simple award ceremony honouring each for their partnership and excellence. After, we hit the pool for an afternoon swim and sauna before dinner. The evening meal was a seafood buffet dinner at a nearby restaurant. We closed the successful evening with a toast to more growth and success in the future and a group pic.

We think it’s important to gather guides together to review and celebrate our work and achievements of 2017 and to set the tone for future work. With team retreats like this one, we hope as we become a tighter knit team who are clear on our core values, then providing quality service to our future clients will become easy, fun and inspiring.

We now plan to make the Extravagant Yak Tour Guide Review and Award Ceremony Retreat Splurge At a Five Star Hotel, or “EYTGRACRSAFSH” (pronounced, “eat grackers and fish”) for short, an annual thing. We’re already looking forward to a much busier 2018 and bringing more Tibetan tour guides into the Extravagant Yak family. We’re proud of our guides and know you will be, too.