Photo: AlUla, Nabateantombs / Credit Intrepid Travel

Intrepid Travel is lifting women up with a brand new expedition to Saudi Arabia.

The 12-day ‘Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition,’ designed to offer a travel experience while empowering women and supporting female-owned businesses in the destination, will be led exclusively by female leaders and guides and showcase a different side of the country beyond the luxury resorts and high-end offerings.

A limited run of five departures, each with a maximum of 12 travellers, will begin on Nov. 26, 2024, priced from $7,975.

Starting in Riyadh and ending in Jeddah, groups will stay in a female-owned boutique hotel, heritage property and desert camp, directly supporting nine female-owned and operated businesses.

The trip will include experiences like a sunrise visit to the Nabataean site of Hegra guided by a local ‘rawee’ (storyteller), the chance to meet two sisters running a local citrus farm near Alulua to sample their produce over lunch, as well as a visit to Madinah, the second holiest site in Islam after Mecca, with a local female guide. Other highlights include visits to women’s homes and female-only spaces, putting equal focus on the host communities as it does the travellers. 

Intrepid developed the trip independently, partnering with a female-owned local operator run by Sara Omar, a Saudi mother of two, to bring the itinerary to life. 

While Saudi remains an extremely conservative society, ranking low in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, women have acquired certain freedoms in recent years, with women now representing 30% of the tourism and hospitality workforce. 

Intrepid’s Women’s Expedition product range launched in 2018 with the aim of breaking down the cultural barriers of traditional tourism with all-female adventures. With the addition of Saudi Arabia, the product range will now feature seven itineraries including Morocco, Pakistan, Nepal and India.

Source: Travelweek