Egypt cultural holiday, small group

Planet

How our company is making a difference:
We know that making the positive difference we aim to achieve will not be an easy task. However, our enthusiasm and commitment towards our travel responsibility mission is far stronger than any obstacles. We believe that in order to achieve any objective, the company has to have accurate policies and procedures for the employees and the guests to follow in order to reach our goal.

We have decided that the environment is a major component of any local community and any negative effect on the environment would directly have an impact on the lives of the inhabitants of the local community. Therefore, we have drawn up a strict environmental protection policy that all our employees and travelers have to abide by. For example, we recycle empty ink cartridges. A company collects them and disposes of them the correct manner.

Egypt is already know as a country with excessive waste by the locals and we encourage all travelers to not follow this by throwing their trash in inappropriate places. Our bus drivers have an arrangement with travelers to leave their empty food wrappers and water bottles in the bus where they will collect it afterwards and dispose of it in an appropriate manner.

We implemented a facilities boat for the use of all felucca tours. This enables the travelers to get on the boat for toilet use. Through this initiative, we completely eliminate stopping on the banks of the Nile for toilet stops in the fields.

For us, Responsible Travel is the only way to travel.

As responsible travelers, we recognize the need to reduce our plastic consumption and provide sustainable alternatives to our customers. That's why we've partnered with Water to Go to offer a fantastic solution.

Water to Go is a company on a mission to tackle the issue of plastic pollution by providing travelers with reusable filter bottles. These bottles are not your average water containers. They are designed with advanced filtration technology that allows you to safely refill your bottle from natural water sources, taps, and even in places where tap water is not typically considered safe to drink.

People

Throughout our long tourism business journey, exceeding 15 years of travel operation in the Middle East, we have succeeded in establishing strong links with the communities we are dealing with in the host destinations.

The first objective is to operate our tours in the most perfect way possible. Our second objective, but not second in importance, is to benefit the local community, protect the environment, and have a positive social impact on the inhabitants living in our host destinations. One of the ways of doing this is to inform and educate our travelers on the cultures of the destinations. By doing this we aim to create a form of respect between the travelers and the local citizens who they will face along their tour.

We believe that the Responsible Travel concept has to be a two-way strategy with both the travelers and the local community gaining benefits. We benefit the local communities we visit using a wide scope of activities that have a positive impact on the local economy, directly by donating money to charity organizations, financially supporting some local communities and by recruiting employees who belonging to the local community. We encourage our guests to buy local products and make use of services that people local community offer. Guests visit both the Khan El-Khalili bazaar in Cairo as well as the Aswan markets. They also stop at a Nubian Village when in Upper Egypt. We help indirectly through capacity building projects we implement with our employees and through the experiences and culture exchanges that take place between the locals and the travelers during our tours.

We promise to support the local community of every destination we take our travelers to. We will do this by employing local guides, using local handicraft shops and recommend shops to our travelers so that their holiday spending contributes to the people of that country. Furthermore, we provide each traveler with a tipping guide. By doing this we set a concept of tipping and gratuity for every person who will offer a form of service to the traveler.

We have also considered the social aspect of the local community and how to respect the customs and traditions of the inhabitants helping us operate our tours. We always provide our guests with all the information needed to understand the community they are visiting and we create valuable opportunities for the travelers and the locals to mingle and exchange ideas and thoughts. Accepting a cup of tea from a shop keeper is a big deal for an Egyptian and we encourage our guests do share a cup of tea with these locals even if it means they respect the offer, and not only buy products from them.

We attempt to accommodate clients in our own hotels which will allow us to not only provide work to our own staff, but also have the bargaining power to provide clients with the best rates.

We educate all our staff on the real life situations of each destination. Sales consultants will use this information to inform potential travelers of the correct information and threats that they may face. It is important for our guests to understand that the recent threats in the Sinai Peninsula are not affecting the running of our tours and that we always put their safety first.

By creating long lasting relationships with our local ground handlers, we are able to establish what needs the community has and through their information we can inform our travelers what they can contribute to the local community from their home countries.

Tipping is a custom in Egypt and more than that, people who provide services as waiters, bell boys and representatives rely on tips as their only means of topping up a very low income. We encourage and explain to our travelers that they should consider this when people provide them with a decent service.