Jordan small group holiday

Planet

In an effort to reduce single use plastic during this trip we provide reusable cloth bags to all of our travellers. Many Jordanian hotels and operators provide plastic bottles of water, making it easy to use plastic excessively, especially given the hot climate. However, we encourage our travellers to buy a large 5-10 litre bottles to refill their smaller ones. We are working with our suppliers to encourage them to do the same.

Water conservation is a hot topic in Jordan, as it’s one of the driest countries in the world. Our trained tour leaders are well versed in advising travellers on initiatives to manage water consumption, and we are working with our suppliers to encourage better management of this precious commodity. This may be by way of water refilling opportunities in hotels and more signage to encourage water conservation practices. We encourage our travellers to take short showers and to never leave the tap water running unnecessarily.

As part of our responsible travel philosophy we use local forms of transport wherever possible. Where this is not possible we endeavour to ensure we are using private transport suitable for our small groups. For example, minivans instead of large coaches or buses. We will always ensure that the vehicles is an appropriate size to suit the group size. For instance, we wouldn’t use a 16-seater van if we only have five people travelling with us. We also try to ensure the vast majority of our included and optional activities (such as walking the Roman ruins of Jerash, floating in the Dead Sea, exploring Petra or an Amman city walking tour) have a carbon-free footprint.

People

This trip is run by our own local Jordanian operator who shares our commitment to responsible travel, from waste and water management to ensuring we leave as minimal a footprint as possible. Our local team are trained on our global responsible travel policies and practices.

An important part of travel is mixing with the locals and experiencing real life in a destination. On this trip we stay only in locally owned hotels or guesthouses that are locally staffed, enabling the money you spend to stay within that community. We source local activities that we believe are sustainable to the economy in that they allow the flow of income from visitors to be distributed to a greater audience, rather than remain concentrated with tourism providers. This could be as simple as a meal in a small local restaurant, a home-cooked meal, or staying in a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum.

We also use only Jordanian leaders, drivers and local guides. Where meals are provided, ingredients will be sourced from a local market when possible.
All aspects of this trip (on the ground) are operated by local Jordanians including all of our leaders, drivers, local site guides and accommodation providers. We provide our leaders with a formal five-day training so that they are up to speed with the needs of our travellers and have the most up-to-date skill sets.

Locals know where the best food, souvenirs, local crafts and entertainment can be found. This trip is operated by local Jordanians and we ensure any shopping opportunities, from the larger cities like Amman and Aqaba to the small villages outside of Wadi Rum are authentic, showcasing Jordan's inspiring and unique culture and crafts.

Our philosophy is to act local and that means respecting the local traditions. For instance, women will be required to wear a headscarf when appropriate and that both men and women are conservatively dressed, with arms and legs covered. We also take care to form genuine and mutually beneficial relationships with local people. An excellent example of this is in the remote Bedouin desert camp stay, where we get a taste of what it’s like to live like a Bedouin, eat local food and sleep under the stars.