Is positive-impact travel to Saudi Arabia even possible?

It’s one of the world’s ‘newest’ travel destinations, offering surreal desert landscapes and teeming reefs ripe for adventure and a window into a rich culture shuttered to the outside world for decades. Yet Saudi Arabia remains one of the most controversial places on the planet to visit, shunned by many international travelers due to ethical and safety concerns.

It’s understandable why some travelers prefer to stay away from this deeply conservative corner of the Middle East. I won’t deny that, as a solo female traveler, I was uneasy about my first, independent trip to the Kingdom following the launch of tourist visas in 2019. At the time, Saudi women had only just been granted the right to work as tour guides. Despite sweeping reforms since 2018 that have also allowed women to work outside the home, live alone, and travel without the permission of a male guardian, Saudi Arabia still ranks among the lowest in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index.

But I’m also a believer that traveling to places like Saudi Arabia in the right way can be a force for good by helping to break down barriers and drive positive change, particularly in terms of empowering women, who now comprise an impressive 45 percent of Saudi’s tourism workforce. It’s a belief shared by Intrepid Travel, which is currently gearing up to host its first tour to the Kingdom, its Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition, in November this year.

Launching in Saudi Arabia with a women’s expedition was a natural fit for the brand, says Zina Bencheikh, Intrepid’s managing director for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. “We knew our travelers were curious about visiting; however, it was important for us to find a way to travel there that felt authentic and would have a positive impact,” she tells me. “Our women’s expeditions are led by female guides, and we work with women-owned businesses throughout our supply chain. By choosing this style of travel, we felt we could open opportunities and help to create meaningful change for those women and, hopefully, future generations.”

With my own interactions with Saudi women on my travels leaving me with the impression that tourism had a significant role to play in creating meaningful employment and other benefits for local women, it’s a strategy that resonates with me.

With the headlines often painting a less than rosy picture of life for women in Saudi Arabia, Zina too admits she had her own preconceptions of the country and what it is like for women living there before she traveled to the Kingdom herself.

Among the challenges for Intrepid’s product development team was crafting an itinerary with a gentle footprint. “The use of single-use plastic is a challenge in Saudi, as it is in many other destinations where we operate,” says the expedition’s product manager Jenny Gray. “We’ll work with our local operator and suppliers to educate them and find practical solutions, but we recognize it will take time to create meaningful change.”

Key to the entire development of the new Saudi expedition was well-traveled Saudi travel business owner Sara Omar, who Intrepid connected with while researching the tour. “Sara understood straight away what we were trying to achieve,” says Zina. “Of course, we wanted to visit the main landmarks and historical sites, but Sara understood that meeting the local people was just as important for us.”

Prompted to explore her own backyard when the COVID-19 pandemic put the operations of her outbound travel company on hold, Sara’s own interactions with Saudi women she met on her trip inspired some of the most memorable experiences on the women’s expedition itinerary: “I met a lot of interesting ladies, including two sisters who run a citrus farm in AlUla and make these amazing jams and cakes with their produce”, Sara tells me over a Zoom call. “Once we started planning for these experiences for Intrepid, many of them were excited to be part of it.”

With the headlines often painting a less than rosy picture of life for women in Saudi Arabia, Zina too admits she had her own preconceptions of the country and what it is like for women living there before she traveled to the Kingdom herself. “My recent visit showed me that the local women are embracing the changes in their society and want to shift perceptions of their home,” she says.

Kicking off in the capital Riyadh, the 12-day Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition combines female-guided visits to the Kingdom’s top attractions—from the rock-cut Nabatean tombs of Hegra in AlUla to the holy city of Madinah—with opportunities to connect with Saudi women on a deeper level.

“With experiences like having dinner in a local woman’s home and staying in a female-owned boutique hotel, there will be lots of opportunities for women to have candid conversations about their daily lives and challenges,” adds Zina. Having struggled to locate female-owned businesses to support during my own trips to Saudi, I know that these kinds of opportunities aren’t always easy to come by as an independent traveler.

“There have always been a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about Saudi. Saudis are actually very hospitable, and I’m really excited to have more people coming to Saudi and experiencing that for themselves.”

- Sara Omar, Saudi Arabian tour operator

While tourism is still in its infancy in Saudi Arabia, the industry is developing at an extraordinary pace, with a resort precinct recently opened on its Red Sea coast and a string of attractions under construction across the country—some of which have been subject to criticism, with stories of displacement of local communities and environmental concerns.

Intrepid’s Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition, however, was a year in the making, carefully curated following extensive independent and in-depth on-the-ground research. “Our style of travel is an entirely new concept to the country,” explains Zina. “It took a lot of time and careful research and development.”

The Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition currently supports female guides, and women-owned hotels and restaurants, and Jenny hopes to partner with additional female-owned businesses along the supply chain as the tour evolves. “We’re always looking for more businesses to support,” she says. Which sounds like a perfect opportunity for female-run transport services to get in touch…

Sara, who is based in the Saudi seaside city of Jeddah, will host Intrepid’s first Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition, and as many subsequent trips as her busy schedule allows. The mother of two isn’t only passionate about supporting her fellow female Saudi tourism pioneers, but also showcasing the ‘real Saudi’ to international travelers.

“There have always been a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about Saudi,” says Sara. “Saudis are actually very hospitable, and I’m really excited to have more people coming to Saudi and experiencing that for themselves.”

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