3 independent reviews for Egypt and Jordan highlights tour
Reviews for Egypt and Jordan highlights tour
Carla V review 26 Sep 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
I want to make only one comment, and it is the following: I reached to you because you advertise yourself as as an agency that practices responsible tourism, but I realized too late that this was not the case. All the people involved shared that they are not aware of anything like this, their pay does not differ from the pay that the others receive. So much so, that we felt obliged to tip everybody in order to improve their income for the day.Your agent even subcontracted to another agency, so that most of the money went in these transactions. I am sure you know this is one of the things that responsible tourism avoids. The quality of the staff that attended us, including driver and guide, was very high and we have nothing to complain about. But they are not engaged in any responsible project and they are as precarious as all the others. The label "responsible tourism" is misused and as a person that works in the sector I feel this is really ethically incorrect.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Read the operator's response here:
Dear Carla,
Thank you for sharing your concerns about responsible travel . We understand the importance of responsible tourism and want to assure you that our company is committed to improving responsible travel practices in Egypt.
By travelling with us you have supported the people of Egypt. 99% of our workforce is Egyptian and women make up 50% of our workforce, 85% if you exclude our tour guides. We are committed to training and supporting our staff and hiring from our student population. We choose locally owned accommodation and restaurants to spread the benefits of tourism within our communities. Additionally, we have designed accessible tours for clients with limited mobility or who use a wheelchair, and we make a donation to the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation for each booking reserved.
Operating in an environmentally conscious manner is not without its challenges in Egypt, but we prioritize accommodation that adheres to the Green Star programme, particularly in Dahab, Marsa Alam, and Bahariya Oasis. We ensure we leave each place as we found it. We continually face challenges with single-use plastic but we strive to make information available to our customers so we can operate in an environmentally friendly way.
Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we are always looking for ways to enhance our efforts. We will be making more effort to communicate the positive impacts of our tours to our future customers based on your review.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Harrie Lerman review 10 Sep 2018
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
We travelled to Jordan to visit friends so not part of this review. Our two guides were/are the MOST memorable part of our time in Egypt. They were knowledgeable, fun and were on the spot for anything we needed or anticipated our needs.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
When booking be sure you and the agent are on the same page. IF phone connections are not good do not continue the conversation. It is your holiday NOT the agent's. Flowery words do not make up for lack of communication. The agent is serving you not the other way around.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Tourism is essential to the economy of Egypt. We never felt intimitaded or not safe. A driver and/or the guide was always with us. The hotel and cruise were very safe. Everyone we encountered were very helpful and nothing was too much trouble.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
A trip not to be missed. If possible go when less hot (we travelled in July) but water was always on hand.Holiday Reviews
You can trust Responsible Travel reviews because, unlike many other schemes, reviews can ONLY be written by people who we have verified have been on the holidays. In addition, we don't run these holidays ourselves - our only interest is giving you the best independent advice.
