Moun Somrach, 22, comes from a poor village near the Tonlé Sap lake in Cambodia. He has seven brothers and sisters, a tricky relationship with his stepmother, and was scraping a living catching fish.

That was before he won a coveted place at the Shinta Mani Institute of Hospitality in nearby Siem Reap, the town famous as a tourist base for exploring the Angkor temples. When I stayed at the boutique Shinta Mani hotel, attached to the institute, last month, he chatted to me in rapidly improving English as he served me drinks in the restaurant. Learning the hotel business on the institute’s one-year course has transformed his life, he said, and his ambition to become a restaurant manager now seems realistic.

I was in Cambodia to find out how such projects are helping local people. On proud display at Shinta Mani is the “highly commended” certificate awarded to the hotel and institute in the poverty reduction category of last year’s Responsible Tourism Awards. The Times is the media partner of the awards; this year’s are launched today.

I also stayed at Shinta Mani’s sister property in Siem Reap, Hotel de la Paix, where the manager, Nick Downing, told me that tourist enterprises are finding it difficult to recruit local staff because so many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

“There is a whole generation missing, and people feel there needs to be something done to help the community,” he said. So his hotel (also highly commended in last year’s awards) supports projects such as a sewing school; once trained, the seamstresses will be given sewing machines, so they can return to their villages and make a living from tailoring work.

I saw many other projects in Cambodia that actively help the poorest people. There are several “Seeing Hands” massage parlours where blind people earn a living offering massage to tourists. I ate at the excellent Friends restaurant in Phnom Penh, where street kids have been trained as cooks and waiters. Terrific Cambodian “tapas”, such as crispy shrimp wontons and local chicken curry, are served for a couple of dollars a dish. And I shopped for souvenirs at Made in Cambodia in Siem Reap, where items are made by disabled people — there are many similar outlets in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

Now we want you to let us know about projects, organisations and people world-wide that are making a positive contribution to tourism, such as employing locals, putting money into the community and protecting the environment. Make a nomination for the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards and you could also win a trip to Uganda or Nepal. Such projects can be life-changing, as Moun Somrach will testify.

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