Intrepid Travel is launching a range of women’s trips and experiences
for 2023, including its first-ever Women’s Expedition in Pakistan.
Intrepid’s Women’s Expeditions - first launched in 2018 - are a collection of tours led entirely by females.
Coinciding with International Women’s Day (8 March) Intrepid says the
aim of the tours is “to break down barriers for female travellers,
debunk misconceptions about gender norms and celebrate the similarities
and differences of women around the globe.”
The 12-Day Pakistan Women’s Expedition will have its first departure
on 17 September 2023 from Lahore, Pakistan. It will connect travellers
with local women in settings typically off-limits to mixed-gender
groups.
Travellers will have the unique opportunity of experiencing one of
the country's few female-only salons in the ancient town of Gulmit,
which provides women with hijabs a safe and respectful place to get
their haircut.
Travellers will join a local female leader on a journey through the
Hunza Valley, discovering the communities and landscapes of the Hallowed
Karakorum and Hindu Kush mountains.
Intrepid Pakistani tour leader Aneeqa Ali, the founder of The Mad
Hatters, a female-led travel company, says there is a lack of female
inclusion in her home country’s tourism efforts.
“Even the most adventurous travellers who have been all over the
world don’t know much about Pakistan. When travellers want to visit,
women want a female tour guide because of the news they’ve heard about
Pakistan, but if you look at Pakistan’s tourism industry, it’s like a
world of men.
“I’ve faced these challenges first-hand and thought ‘Why not be the change you want to see in the world?'".
Alongside the Pakistan Expedition, Intrepid is also debuting a Nepal
Women’s Expedition, which will run for the first time this year. Other
tours will visit Morocco, India, Jordan and Iran.