Lebanon holiday

Planet

Our Lebanon tour is deliberately construed so as to maximise exposure (but always in small, low-impact groups) to places of outstanding natural beauty. That way, those places - faced with the relentless onslaught of human development - can rest assured of their conservation status. On this trip, we spend a day in Lebanon's much-reduced cedar forests. We also visit a wetland in the Bekaa Valley, a critical transit route for migratory birds. Our presence there helps consolidate the status of these places.
We take small vehicles carrying small tour groups. Our guides are trained to impress upon visitors the importance of environmental responsibility. To reduce our carbon dependency the tour route is designed to concentrate sightseeing venues on any given day to reduce the amount of time travelling and burning fuel. We have endeavoured to pick accommodations that fall within a limited radius of our daily tour sites.

We strongly advise all travellers to bring a reusable water bottle - this is an easy way to save plastic waste and is detailed in our ‘What to bring’ trip notes for all trips to all destinations. Your guide will remind you where and when you can fill up your re-usable water bottle. We also encourage general sustainability - limited use of aircon for instance. Something we focus on as an organisation and try to pass on to our travellers

People

In Lebanon our ground handlers use local drivers and staff, who ensure that all supplies are purchased locally for all journeys. Our belief is that all operational costs should go directly into the local economy wherever possible. Improving employment opportunities in remote regions is a powerful tool in tourism and something that goes right to the heart of our responsible travel ethos.

We feel it is important to support Lebanon's youth to secure a prosperous future for the individuals and the country as a whole. So for every traveller who books through Responsible Travel we give a token donation to The Nawaya Network which identifies promising youth from low-income backgrounds and connects them with mentors, classes, funding and internships, giving employment opportunities. This year, they have supported up to 2,500 youth in three main programs: an entrepreneurship and employ-ability program; a coding boot-camp for unemployed computer science graduates; and a talent development program for low-income youth.

Lebanon's stagnant economy has youth unemployment at 35% and employment opportunities are difficult to find, particularly for refugees.The Nawaya Network aims to fill this gap, answering the needs of potentially thousands of ambitious youth throughout Lebanon. By training refugees and out-of-school in entrepreneurship and employ-ability, it is more likely they will find income-generating opportunities. Unemployed youth will gain means to generate an income and it will develop their sense of purpose and motivate them to work hard and lead a more productive and fruitful life.