Nile cruise by Dahabyia, Egypt

As a Responsible Tour operator we have a commitment to employ local people as leaders and staff wherever possible. Not only does this policy mean the best possible holiday experience for our clients, it provides a career path for our leaders and staff and ensures the benefits remain in the local community. The Hadeel is fully Egyptian owned and employs a full staff of Egyptians.

The main advantage of travelling by Dahabyia over a conventional Nile cruise is that you will be in a small group minimising crowding and waste production. There is no motor on board hence no fume and air pollution issues associated with the traditional large liners. The boat is equipped with its own water purification system and does not discharge waste into the river as well as minimising the consumption of plastic water bottles.

For all of our tours we provide customers with an itinerary specific responsible travel guide aprox 4 weeks before they depart. This includes a generic travellers code of conduct which emphasises basic responsible travel advice – e.g. reduction of waste and consumption of natural resources, purchase local produce where possible etc. Our holidays are specifically designed to bring guests into direct contact with locals from a range of different tribes and cultures across Africa. We also therefore provide destination specific guidance including advice on local customs and some key phrases in certain languages (e.g. Swahili). We also offer guidance on how to barter responsibly for local curios and what curios should be avoided (e.g. certain wildlife artefacts such as coral, turtle shells etc.). As all of our guides and groundhandlers are local we also give guidance on what a fair and reasonable level of tipping would be at the end of the holiday.

We support the work of Tourism Concern both in distributing their advice to customers and as an active participant in the Ethical Tour Operators Group. Our managing director sits on this group and is a regular attendee of meetings contributing to work towards developing industry wide fair trade standards. We also distribute materials to customers and make periodic donations for the following charities: Tree Aid; International Fund for Wildlife and Survival International Trust. In Southern Africa we support the Southern Africa Sustainable Seafood Initiative and forward their guidance to all customers on which seafood is sustainable when offered a choice at restaurants.