BANGKOK, 22 November 2019: Fifty-eight Accor staff completed a three-day cycling journey through the Mekong Delta, last week, as part of the hospitality group’s Amazing Bike Ride 2019.
Now in its second edition, the project gathers team-members from hotels and corporate offices around the world for an epic cycling challenge to raise funds for local charities and NGOs in Southeast Asia.
This year, participants cycled over 300km along the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam and were tasked with raising USD10,000 to support local organisations such as YimKids of Thailand, Ecole Paul Dubrule, Mekong Plus and Smile Group. The total raised is now USD128,800 for the project that will close at the end of the year.
Launched in 2017, the Amazing Bike Ride project is an initiative of the group’s RiiSE committee – an international network that sets out to promote diversity and inclusion.
The double “ii” in RiiSE symbolises the men and women who are committed to the values of inclusion and combatting stereotypes related to disabilities, gender, LGBT, generations and culture.
This year, the participants cycled from Mỹ Tho to Cần Thơ on the first day (101km) along a labyrinth of small roads and canals involving small bridges and ferries, before embarking on a 99 km ride to Bến Tre on the second day past rice paddies and local villages. The final day involved a 93 km journey across tracks and rivers to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City. The teams of cyclists comprised of 19 women and 39 men representing 17 nationalities and ranging from 24 to 62 years of age.
