04 Apr 2024by Ilaria Grasso Macola
Intrepid Travel has unveiled a new 12-day tour of Saudi Arabia guided exclusively by women for other women.
The new tour, which starts in Saudi capital Riyadh and winds up in Jeddah, has been added to the operator’s female-only portfolio.
Intrepid said the tour – its Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition – had been designed to support female-owned businesses in Saudi Arabia and offer visitors a different perspective of the country.
The tour was developed independently by Intrepid in partnership with a female-owned local operator run by Sara Omar, with the first tour departing on 26 November.
A further four departures will run through to April 2025, with each departure limited to 12 travellers.
It features a visit to the ancient city of Hegra, a Unesco World Heritage site, guided by a local ‘rawee’ or storyteller, as well as excursions to the oasis city of Alula and Madinah – Islam’s second-holiest site.
Travellers will be guided by female tour leaders throughout, taking them into women’s homes and other female-only spaces.
During the 12-day tour, visitors will have opportunities to participate in a wide range of female-led experiences and initiatives. These include visiting a women-owned beauty salon, taking part in a cooking class with a local female chef, and eating lunch under the trees at a citrus farm run by two sisters.
Elsewhere, guests will visit a shop selling abeyas, a traditional Muslim robe, and find out how women are modernising the garment, and take a Red Sea boat trip followed by a barbecue on a private female-only beach.
Jenny Gray, Intrepid’s product manager for its Women’s Expeditions line, said the trip would “put local women’s voices centre stage”.
“With activities like joining a cooking class with a local female chef and getting pampered at a women-owned salon, the trip will give our travellers the chance to see a side of Saudi few get to experience,” she said.
Zina Bencheikh, Intrepid managing director EMEA, whose team will oversee operations, recently visited Saudi Arabia to fine tune the programme, and said women there were excited to welcome tourists to their country.
“On my own visit, I met many women who were embracing the changes in their society,” said Bencheikh. “They were excited to begin their careers in travel and welcome people to their country.
“By launching our Women’s Expedition, we hope to create opportunities for those women to push boundaries and drive meaningful change, for themselves and future generations.”
Intrepid’s Zina Bencheikh met up with Omar during a recent visit to Saudi Arabia (Credit: Intrepid Travel)
Ranking 131st in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, Saudi Arabia remains a deeply conservative patriarchal society, although Intrepid has highlighted certain freedoms women have been afforded in recent years – including the right to own their own businesses.
“With women now representing 30% of the tourism and hospitality workforce, Intrepid felt there was an opportunity to create a product that would both allow travellers to see the country through the eyes of local women and support efforts towards female empowerment,” said the operator.
The tour leads in from £4,795pp.
