Responsible & Sustainable Travel in Egypt
How we practice responsible travel — and how you can too. Plain-spoken commitments, not vague greenwashing.
Our six commitments
Local people first
Every guide on our tours is Egyptian, licensed, and paid above the local industry standard. Our drivers and ground staff are full-time partners we have worked with for years — not gig workers booked through aggregators. Money you pay us stays in the local economy.
Animal-welfare guidelines
We do not book any activity that harms animals — no swimming with dolphins in captivity, no riding stressed or underfed camels, no controversial donkey rides. Where camel and horseback experiences are part of an itinerary (Pyramids, oases), we work only with operators that meet recognised animal-welfare standards. If you spot anything that concerns you on the ground, tell us and we will remove that vendor.
Protecting heritage
Egypt's monuments survive only because of careful restoration and visitor management. Our guides follow site-protection rules — no climbing on monuments, no flash photography in painted tombs, no removing 'souvenirs' (it is illegal anyway). We also support visitor caps in tombs that have them, even when it means rotating which Valley of the Kings tombs we include.
Reducing plastic waste
Every traveler on our trips receives a reusable steel water bottle on arrival. All our hotels and Nile cruisers we partner with offer filtered drinking-water refill stations, so you never need bottled plastic. This is small but it adds up: a 10-day Egypt trip without our refill program creates roughly 30 single-use bottles per person.
Smaller, slower groups
We do not run mass-tourism mega-buses. Most of our private trips travel as a couple or family party in a sedan or van — not 50-person coaches. Our maximum group size for any departure is 16 travelers, and most run with 2–8. This is better for sites, better for guides, and better for you.
Honest economics
Our planners spend the time to recommend the right size of trip for the right traveler — including telling you when a shorter or simpler itinerary is genuinely better than a longer or fancier one. We make less commission on smaller trips. We are okay with that.
Why this page exists
Tourism is Egypt's largest source of foreign-currency income and supports millions of people directly and indirectly. Done well, tourism funds the protection of pyramids, tombs, museums, and oases. Done badly, it damages monuments, exploits workers, and harms animals.
We are a small Egyptian-run company. We do not pretend to be perfect, and we are not certified by every sustainability scheme. But the operating principles below are real choices we make every day, and we are happy to be held to them. If you have ideas about how we can do better, please tell us.
What we are working on
Some areas where we still want to improve, and we are open about it:
• Carbon: international flights to Egypt are unavoidable for most travelers. We are evaluating credible carbon-offset partners and will recommend specific ones when we find providers we trust (we will not blanket-charge for offsets that go nowhere).
• Hotel sourcing: a few of our partner hotels still use single-use plastics in rooms. We are nudging them to switch and prioritising hotels that have already done so.
• Cruise sourcing: dahabiyas (small sail-powered Nile boats) are dramatically lower-impact than 70-cabin cruisers. Where the budget allows, we prefer to book dahabiyas — and we are happy to walk you through the trade-offs.
• Female employment in guiding: like most of the Egypt industry, we work with predominantly male guides. We are actively partnering with female Egyptologist guides where the request matches the trip, and the share is growing year on year.
How you can travel more responsibly in Egypt
Six small choices that genuinely help on the ground.
Use the refillable bottle we give you
Egypt is hot and dry — you will need 3 to 4 litres per person per day. Refill at hotels and cruise stations rather than buying bottled water. We will not be offended if you bring your own bottle from home.
Tip your guides and drivers in cash
Tipping is part of the income for guides, drivers, and cruise crew. Keeping it in cash and giving it directly means it goes to the right person without supplier deductions. We provide a tipping guide before you arrive.
Buy from independent local shops
Khan El Khalili, Aswan's spice market, Luxor's east bank — these markets keep generations of small artisans in business. Skip the airport-style 'official tourist bazaars' that mark up Chinese imports.
Respect tomb and museum rules
Photo tickets are inexpensive (EGP 300 in Valley of the Kings, etc.) and they fund site preservation. Buying a photo ticket is a small way to contribute. And please — no flash in painted tombs, ever.
Try local food
Koshari, ful, taameya, mahshi, om ali — Egyptian cuisine is delicious and affordable, and eating local food supports neighborhood places rather than international chains. Your guide can recommend the right places.
Be patient with timing
Tomb visits, cruise embarkation, internal flights — Egypt runs on its own clock. Arriving an hour early to a temple to beat coach groups, or rolling with a 30-minute supplier delay, is part of how we keep sites manageable. We plan for it; we just ask travelers to as well.
Last updated: 2026