For Those Who Crave Adrenaline, Adventure Tourism is the Way to Go

BY NADA SHAKER
@NADASHAKER94

Although Egypt has been a popular travel destination for hundreds of years, a considerable number of tourism spots and opportunities remain untapped.

Gazef, an adventure entrepreneurship launched in 2013, is one of the handful of travel companies trying to fill that gap by offering something a little different from the traditional museum visits and horseback riding trips at the pyramids.

The brainchild of AUC economics alumna and cofounder Yasmine El Rashidy, Gazef aims to revolutionize travel in Egypt by offering 60 different itineraries to 23 international destinations.

When they first started operations nearly three years ago, Gazef offered travel to the Sinai, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand, but in 2015, the four young graduates turned their focus to other local destinations as well.

“We started operating in Egypt because it is an amazing destination with limitless locations that are untapped,” says El Rashidy, who started the company with her friends Ayten Wahba, Omar Galal and Mohamed Shabrawy.

“A huge portion of our clients who traveled with us locally have never experienced Egypt this way and a lot of them have never been anywhere in Egypt except the main stream locations such as the North Coast, El Gouna, Sharm el Sheikh and [Ain] Sokhna,” said El Rashidy.

Gazef changed the travel formula: they started offering adventure travel to lesser known destinations such as Fayoum, Dahab, Ras Abu Galloum, Ras Mohamed, Marsa Allam, Siwa, Wahat (Oasis), Luxor, Aswan, the White Desert and Wadi el Gemal.

Those who sign up for these trips should expect fast-paced activities, that leave the travelers out of breath.

Recently, Gazef arranged a five-day trip to Ras Abu Galloum, which is located among natural Sinai fauna, mountains and the Red Sea.

Travelers engaged in snorkeling, yoga, music jamming, kite-surfing, hiking, camel ride and rock climbing. Even their food and beverages are customized to suit the atmosphere of the place, consisting mainly of homemade dishes such as rice, cooked vegetables and nightly barbecues.

“Our focus is to have Egyptians travel within their country in a different way, which is the Gazef experience, mainly to go to exotic locations in Egypt and engage in different activities as rock climbing, Safaris, diving camps among others,” El Rashidy says.

She says that the dynamic, adrenaline-packed activities help bring strangers together in tightly knit groups Gazef’s popularity has steadily grown as its exposure on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram reaches larger audiences.

Videos and pictures of their trips are constantly updated as are various packages that are offered.

Their Facebook page, which has reached nearly 140 thousand Likes, is the platform on which adventurers can navigate those offers.

But Gazef is hardly the first – or only – adventure travel company attracting a growing number of Egyptian travelers.

The industry can trace its origins to 2009 when Egyptian mountain climber Omar Samra began his own travel company after he successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas.

His company Wild Guanabana, has attracted hundreds of Egyptian and foreign adventurists to locations such as Nepal, Tanzania, Kenya and Jordan, to name but a few, and can be considered as the pioneer venture that is tapping into youth travel. So far, the company has over 290,000 likes on Facebook.

This falls in tandem with long-term plans by the Ministry of Tourism which is trying to attract additional types of visitors – not just those looking to absorb Egypt’s rich Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic heritage.