Hot on the heels of being added to the Travel + Leisure Top Travel Advisors A-List, Andy has now been shortlisted for the PURE 2014 award for ‘Contribution to Experiential Travel’.

PURE Life Experiences, a by-invitation-only collection of high-end travel designers and operators strives to ‘uncover the inspirational, celebrate the passionate, reward the diligent and honour the brave’. Amongst such lofty company Andy has been selected as one of half a dozen trail blazers – taking experiential travel to the next level.

Passing through Cambodia over a decade ago Andy realized that the conditions existed for something really special in the country.  The attractions were undoubtedly world-class though tourism was not well done with little imagination and only one dollar in six generated even staying in the country.

Never shy of a challenge Andy founded ABOUTAsia in one of the world’s most trying business environments, with zero travel industry experience with the ambitious aims of not only setting a new standard for travel to Cambodia but to do this while returning all of the benefits to local communities, through educational development programmes.

With a range of unique signature tours ABOUTAsia offers the wonderful temples of Angkor and their pastoral surroundings in a markedly different way to the run-of-the-mill tour operator. Andy recognizes that experiences are not just things that happen to you independent of your state of mind.  By creating the right atmosphere and situation he hopes that his guests may just end up pondering their place in the world.

Voting to select a winner will take place next month – fingers crossed!