Who would have thought that you could develop what has turned into two luxury tropical island resorts in Indonesia, built entirely of locally sourced timber, including driftwood, bamboo, rubber wood, and recycled teak for furniture\u2014all locally crafted, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This whole project has been masterminded by Australian Andrew Dixon, a former investment banker who has, in his words, become \u201can accidental hotelier\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He doesn\u2019t just talk about sustainable development and responsible tourism but shows by example what can be done to create two tropical island resorts \u2013 Nikoi <\/a>and Cempadak <\/a>– alongside the larger Bintan Island, Riau, Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Andrew Dixon who insisted from the start that locally available materials – bamboo, driftwood, rubber wood and recycled teak – would be used in the construction and furnishing for the resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See my video interview with Andrew after a walk in the park in Singapore:<\/p>\n\n\n\n