Africa and the Middle East With ArchaeoAdventures

We asked Genevieve Hathaway, operator of ArcheoAdventures, to share some insight into traveling in the MENA region, an area surrounded by polemical and often uninformed dialogue. In an effort to promote women run business and empower female travel, Genevieve shared with Fannypack some of the joys, frustrations, the misconceptions as well as some real risks about the region.

1. What is ArcheoAdventures? What kind of work do you do?

ArchaeoAdventurs is a women-powered tour company to the Middle East and North Africa. We use an all female guide staff, as well as women owned and operated inbound operators. We run women-only tours and a select number of co-ed tours to Egypt, Morocco and Turkey. We plan over the next few years to expand to also include Jordan, UAE, Oman and Tunisia.

2. What inspired you to start ArcheoAdventures?

I started ArchaeoAdventures to help women travelers travel smart, savvy and safe in the Middle East and North Africa. I also wanted to help put women tourism professionals back to work after the downturn in the economies due to the Arab Spring and bring in a different narrative on the MENA region than what the news usually shows.

The inspiring part of my work running tours to the Middle East and North Africa is connecting travelers with local women, seeing the connection travelers make with each other from the shared experience, and most importantly the powerful impact we have on local women’s lives through employing them as our guides, using their services and shopping at women-owned stores and co-ops. Travel is a powerful tool to change both the lives of travelers and of the local women we employ. It’s incredibly rewarding to give our travelers the trip of a lifetime. To give them great memories, as well as the confidence and self-knowledge that comes from stepping out of their comfort zones. And through that act of travel to also put women tourism professionals back to work at good wages. We are making an important difference to women in the Middle East and North Africa. This gets me out of bed every day excited to work and share this amazing part of the world with fellow women travelers and some male travelers on our few co-ed tours. Every time I hear the fear-filled rhetoric and comments in the news about the Middle East and North Africa I know the work my tour company, ArchaeoAdventures, does is so critical in educating travelers on this beautiful region and its friendly people.

3. What were some challenges you faced in hiring a local, female staff?

The challenges vary depending on the country. In some countries, it can be hard to find women guides and tourism professionals. Over the next few years, I want to train women to take on more and more roles in the tourism industry.

4. How long did it take you to get up and running?

It took one year to write the business plan. Once we launched the company, we quickly started filling and running tours.

5. What are some of the biggest misconceptions about the MENA region? How does your work challenge those misconceptions?

Great questions. There are many misconceptions and I will address a few of the biggest. Each country in the MENA region is very different from the next, yet the media tends to paint a much more homogeneous region than it actually is. Saudi Arabia is on the opposite end of the spectrum as Jordan. It’s like comparing apples and turnips, it just can’t be done. They are too different. When traveling to the region it’s important to understand the country you are visiting within its own context. If women can’t drive in Saudi Arabia, then don’t worry about it if you are visiting Jordan.

Some of the biggest regional misconceptions are:

– It’s dangerous and a hard place for women to travel.

Through articles, travel classes, travel videos and tours, we will give women (and all travelers) the knowledge, skills and understanding to travel smart, savvy and safe. Our tours give women a wonderful insider experience of the MENA region through traveling with local women. The idea that the MENA region is dangerous and a hard place for women to travel comes from a fundamental misunderstanding about the region and from applying a western perspective and associations to the region, when they really need to be understood in their own context. Women also need to carry themselves with a great sense of confidence, authority and a little bit of distance. Think of it more in terms of how people related in the 1950s. There was a greater sense of formality between two people until they got to know each other. The same is true for the MENA region. Nowadays, women in western countries are generally taught to smile, be open and be overly friendly. This behavior can be really misunderstood in the MENA region since people, especially women, tend to act more reserved. It’s more about misunderstandings than the region being unfriendly to women.

– Women can’t have a great experience solo.

We teach women through our tours, classes, articles how to travel solo and have a great experience.

– That women are subservient and completely oppressed.

Across the MENA region women are running companies, starting companies, changing their communities, bringing about social change. Women are strong in the MENA region and I want to introduce travelers to how women are on the ground, rather than how the media portrays them.

– That ISIS is everywhere in the MENA region (people have completely forgotten about Al Qaeda now).

ISIS is contained to Iraq and Syria, it does not exist throughout the MENA region. Just a few years back everyone was shouting to be afraid of Al Qaeda. Now it’s to be afraid of ISIS. While terrorist attacks can happen anywhere, and do happen in both western countries and in the MENA region, your chance of being caught in a terrorist attack is less than being in a plane crash. It’s important to make a practical and knowledge based assessment on where you are actually traveling, rather than letting fear and emotion lead.

– That women are excluded from lots of things because they are women.

Where a door seems closed to women (like a men-only café) , there is another door open. Look for those doors, those opportunities. Men-only cafes exist because the home is the women’s domain. While they are at home with their friends to have tea and gal time, the men-only cafes grew up as a place men could go to have a coffee and spend time with their guys friends. The men-only cafes weren’t designed to alienate women. Rather it was a response to giving women and men their own spaces to spend time with their friends. For women, this is a great opportunity to make friends with local women and get invites for this wonderful ladies afternoon teas and gatherings. Look for these unique opportunities that are only open to women. They provide wonderful, insider access to the culture. In our tours, we show these to our lady travelers.

6. What are the real vs. perceived threats of traveling in the MENA region as a female?

The MENA region is often generalized as an unfriendly place toward women. When that blanket statement couldn’t be farther from the truth. Countries such as Saudi Arabia are not very friendly to women and do have a long way to go in terms of women’s rights. But in other countries such as Turkey and Morocco women are quite well respected – running companies, having equal rights, being treated with respect. As a woman who has traveled solo a lot throughout the region, I’ve found that if I carry myself with confidence, dress a little more conservatively (high neckline, pants/skirt below the knees, a shirt that covers my shoulders), and if I am genuinely am curious to learn about the culture, I have been treated with the utmost respect and warmly welcomed. Growing up in the Middle East and North Africa is a masterclass in hospitality. Locals will go above and beyond to help you when traveling in their country. Use common sense and you’ll be ok. Most MENA region countries (not Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen) are safer than the US. In fact, the violent crime rate is very low across the region. They just don’t have the same level of crime that we are used to in the States. It’s a safe place that is quite easy for women to navigate if they know how to carry themselves, with confidence and a little more reserve than at home (at least till you get to know people quite well).

7. What advice can you give to our LGBTQ readers?

LGBTQ travelers can have a wonderful experience in the Middle East and North Africa. My biggest advice though is not to advertise that you are LGBTQ. Unfortunately, in many countries in the region it is not accepted to be LGBTQ and in some countries, it is actually illegal. So this information is best kept private.

8. What kinds of information do your female guides offer your travelers? How does this differ from standard, male guides?

The biggest benefit of traveling with a female guide is that women travelers will have an automatic connection with that guide who can bridge cultural differences. It’s like exploring a country with a really knowledgeable friend from that country. Also, in many Middle East and North African countries there can be gender specific areas or roles. For example, the home is the woman’s domain and men that are not family or friends are not often invited into the home. Women, however, can get invitations into the home. Traveling with a local woman lets you get an insider perspective into the culture. Women guides are also more cognizant of keeping women travelers and families feeling comfortable, whereas male guides often are less aware.

9. Why do you feel this work is important?

The work we are doing at ArchaeoAdventures, and the work our travelers are doing, is very important. It is changing perspectives on the MENA region and showing another narrative of this part of the world – one based on understanding not fear. We are also doing the important work of providing women travelers, and in fact all travelers, with the most current, up-to-date information on traveling in the MENA region, making travel in the region more accessible to women, and using tourism to put women to work in the MENA region.

10. How can people support this project?

ArchaeoAdventures isn’t just a tour company; it is a community with a vision to employ and empower women in the Middle East and North Africa, break down cultural barriers, educate about the MENA region, and connect people across cultures. Help us achieve our mission of changing the world one MENA region woman professional, one woman traveler, and one tour at a time.
Ways to help:
• Take a tour! Taking a tour helps us both grow as well as put women tourism professionals directly to work.
• Help us get the word out about what we do. Share our tours and our mission to empower women with your family and friends.
• Join our community on social media. ‘Like’ our page on Facebook. Join our newsletter. Follow us on twitter and you tube.
• Feature ArchaeoAdventures, our tours, and our work on your tv show, podcast, radio program, website, magazine, conference, other publication or event.
• Operate in the region or have projects in the Middle East or North Africa? Let us and our fabulous staff of women tourism professionals handle your logistics and on-the-ground operations.
• Interested in learning more about the MENA region, the challenges women face, the region’s women changemakers, or how business and adventure sports are bringing about gender equality? Bring ArchaeoAdventures’ Director, Genevieve Hathaway, to speak at your company, organization, event, conference, workshop, or seminar.
• Sponsor our podcast series on women changemakers in the Middle East and North Africa.

For more information, visit www.archaeoadventures.com

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