Willem Niemeijer

CEO & Co-Founder, Khiri Travel

Passion for travel has been in Willem’s blood since a young age. His professional career in the travel industry started at a student travel organization in the 1980s. He moved to Thailand in 1987 and founded Khiri Travel in 1993. The DMC now operates in eight countries with 18 offices, and has a dedicated charity, Khiri Reach.

Willem founded YAANA Ventures in 2016 to create and grow a portfolio of sustainable hospitality brands in Asia.

Today, besides Khiri Travel, YAANA Ventures oversees nature lodges in Thailand and Cambodia; GROUND Asia specialises in service learning projects for schools and universities; Naruna Retreats, provides personal leadership development; and HMP Master, is a new cloud-based solution for boutique hotel management.

Willem has bold plans for expansion in the sustainable hospitality sector in remote parts of Asia.

He resides in Bangkok with his family and is fluent in Dutch, English and Thai.