The power of travel and tourism to bring about positive change by promoting cultural understanding and building bridges between communities has long been understood.
But for the duo behind socially conscious tour operator Mejdi Tours, it’s not just a welcome side-effect, it’s a responsibility.
The business was founded in 2009 by social entrepreneurs Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian Muslim, and Scott Cooper, an American Jew. Neither had worked in travel, coming instead from backgrounds in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
They met in New York in 2009 and quickly concluded travel could benefit from some of the approaches they were familiar with from their peacebuilding work to fulfil its potential as a force for good.
“If you’re working on a peacebuilding project somewhere, you’re not going to go in with a one- size-fits-all solution, you have to learn from the local communities,” Cooper tells TTG. “That’s the approach we’ve adopted when it comes to product design [for our tours].”
Over the course of its 15-year history, Mejdi – which means to honour and to respect in Arabic – has gained worldwide recognition, and in 2013, became one of the first travel companies in the world to obtain B Corp certification.
It has also become known for its dual narrative tours, which are led by two expert guides, each representing a different cultural, religious, political or ethnic narrative.
Dual narrative touring
The obvious – and personal – example for both Abu Sarah and Cooper is Israel and Palestine. Abu Sarah grew up in East Jerusalem during the tensions of the 1980s and 1990s; he believes many people’s experiences of touring the region have been distorted by whether they journeyed with an Israeli or Palestinian guide.
“It was clear to us from the beginning dual narrative touring was the way to go,” he explains. “The idea is to bring together two people from different backgrounds to have a conversation and present different points of view.”
Features of Mejdi’s dual narrative tour of Israel and Palestine, which was paused for five months owing to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, include meeting with peace activists, hearing from a representative of the Jewish settlement movement and enjoying a home-cooked meal with a Palestinian family.
“It’s not a normal tour as there’s very little classic sightseeing involved,” Abu Sarah explains. “Our tours focus on meeting people, sharing a meal and talking to them to understand their pain, their heartbreak and the reality on the ground.”
So successful were the tours that the concept has been extended to other contested lands such as Northern Ireland, where tours are led by a Catholic and a Protestant; the Balkans, where guests travel with Bosnian and Serb guides; and Uzbekistan, where the guides are a Russian expat and a local Uzbek.
In the Balkans, travellers have a chance to meet with local journalists, historians and war refugees, while in Uzbekistan, they travel to several Unesco heritage sites with a Muslim guide to learn more about the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam, and also visit a typical yurt camp.
Mejdi also offers socially conscious tours in other areas of the world, such as Morocco, Greece, Chile and Egypt.
Call to agents
Abu Sarah and Cooper hope to grow the operator’s presence in the UK, where they believe there is a market for socially conscious touring. “We would absolutely welcome approaches from agents wanting to work with us,” Cooper insists, urging them to get in touch through Mejdi’s website.
Tours can be tailor-made to suit clients’ needs and budgets. “Your customers don’t need to be into peacebuilding,” Cooper says. “But they need to be intellectually curious and want to experience a culturally deep product.”
