ResponsibleTravel.com customers on holiday in Egypt. Feluccas and Pharoahs, a popular trip. British ethical tourism pioneers ResponsibleTravel.com has celebrated its tenth birthday by announcing its biggest ten sellers over the last decade – and Middle Eastern destinations top the list. Responsible Travel offers hundreds of holidays across the world and its birthday announcement also included […]
Could First Choice all-inclusive holidays spell the end for small businesses in Middle Eastern resorts? First Choice, one of Britain’s leading package holiday companies, announced this week that all holidays sold as of 2012 under its brand will be all-inclusive. This means that as well as flights and hotels, the price that tourists pay up-front […]
Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
Cycling holidays are tempting travellers to eco-friendly ways of seeing the Middle East In recent months Green Prophet has reported on all aspects of cycling in the Middle East, from new resources for visitors wanting to visit the Middle East by bicycle, to calls for a Critical Mass-style ‘cycling revolution’ in Cairo. In line with […]
Souvenirs of the recent revolution are already on sale in Tahrir Square In recent weeks, Green Prophet has reported on concerns for MENA regional eco-tourism after visitor numbers slumped over concerns about safety, and on worries that the conflict in Libya could damage the country’s stunning historical remains. But plans to promote Middle East and […]
Eco-tourism in Lebanon can do a lot to bolster local communities, if it gets off the ground.
Leopards in Egypt are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. During certain periods of ancient Egyptian history it was illegal to kill cats, any cats. The punishment for said infraction? Death. Cats were considered so sacred that only the Pharaoh was permitted to own them. Now, not only […]
Palestinian youth learn about water issues at Al-Auja Eco-Centre Green Prophet has featured news about the Friends of the Earth Middle East (FOEME) Eco-Centre at Al-Auja, a Palestinian village in the Jordan Valley, on a number of occasions. Green Prophet writer Rachel Bergstein has reported on the challenges the inhabitants of Al-Auja face because the […]
Can countries with unrest commit to eco-tourism aspirations? With countries across the Middle East – North Africa (MENA) region facing often fatal unrest like the food riots in Tunisia, it seems rather frivolous to be thinking about the travel industry. But with tourism a major earner for many Middle East & North African countries, the […]
Jisr al Zarka, as seen from Tenenim Stream estuary Anyone visiting Israel’s remaining coastal Arab town, Jisr al Zarka may notice almost immediately how different it is from its more affluent neighbors, Caesarea and Kibbutz Maagan Michael. For Jisr al Zarka, a town of almost 13,000 inhabitants, does not have a bank or ATM machine, […]
Masdar - the Eco-city - is home to the hottest and most energy efficient transport system in the world: The Personal Rapid Transit (pod car). The PRT is fast, powered by lithium batteries, driverless, can carry up to 10 people safely and looks oh so beautiful in the gleaming sun... Check out more here.
Planning out your vacations for the new year ahead? Beirut, Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi make the cut. A few months ago, world-renowned travel guide company Lonely Planet made a list of its top 10 cities for 2011. Tel Aviv made the prized 3rd place spot (after New York and Tangier, but before Valencia, Delhi, […]
Jordanian environmentalists have launched a new campaign against planned construction in a nature reserve. Jordanian environmentalists have launched a new campaign against plans to build a military academy at Bergish, in the Ajloun Forest nature reserve in north-western Jordan. The plans will, says campaigners from Halt Ajloun Deforestation, destroy an estimated 2,200 trees – some […]
Wander off the beaten trail in the West Bank, and find a treasure of a guesthouse in Sebastia, near Nablus The little town of Sebastia, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, was one a major city. Home to successive civilisations from its Canaanite founders to its modern-day Palestinian inhabitants (via Israelites, Crusaders and Alexander […]
Egypt finally harnesses a power that it understood centuries ago Egypt now has one of the very first entire towns in the world to be powered exclusively with solar power. And actually, it is a pair of towns, so it is a world first. The two villages were not previously on the national grid. Oum […]