Under 30's holiday to Egypt

Environment

We take a lot of care when choosing the accommodation, we stay in on this trip and instead of selecting the big chain hotels, we opt for locally-run guesthouses which have a lesser impact on the environment. This trip includes two overnight sleeper train journeys, the CO2 emissions of which are far lower than a short haul flight. The train is also an excellent opportunity to understand local travel and interact with local people.

When travelling by public transport isn’t feasible, we do our best to ensure that the private vehicles we use are suitable for our small group sizes. For instance, we wouldn’t use a 16-seater minivan if we only had five people joining us on the trip. We also plan our travel routes so that we spend as little time as possible on the road, which helps to lower the impact of emissions on the local environment in Egypt.

Water is a precious commodity in this part of the world. Our trained tour leaders are well versed in advising travellers on initiatives to manage water consumption. We encourage travellers to treat this scarce resource with the utmost respect.

This trip includes camel riding and our responsibility is to only work with suppliers who look after their animals and treat them with respect. Animals should not carry more than half their body weight, and less in hot conditions or on steep declines. The animals should look well fed, their coats should be in good condition and without sores.

Community

Contributing to the local Egyptian economy is very important to us, which is why this trip uses locally owned operators so that the money our travellers spend stays in the country. The hotels used on this trip are owned by locals and staffed by locals, we work with our local suppliers to align them with our own values in respect of responsible business practices and fair working conditions. Currently 12% of the Egyptian work force is employed in the tourism sector.

One of the best parts of this trip is spending time with locals. Sailing down the Nile on a felucca, stopping to see local life and sharing a meal with your Nubian crew empowers and educates local communities who benefit from you being on this tour. We also spend a night at a local home stay which directly supports a small Island community.

Gender equality is always a hot topic in this part of the world and our own local operator is campaigning for change by employing and training more local female leaders and guides. Once not so long-ago woman educated in tourism guiding where restricted by social values to guiding on sites only. Through educating locals and families, we are seeing an increase in the number of female tour leaders. If you jump on this trip you’ll learn all about how gender equality in tourism in Egypt is changing for the better.