Med Pearls presents: HubAdventure - shinning the light on Lakes Edku and Mariout

Meet the first Egyptian subgrant recipient for the Med Pearls Product Development of Slow Tourism products in Egyptian pilot areas, who was able to convince the consortium with their approach to promote the area of the Lakes of Edku and Mariout as Slow Tourism locations. HubAdventure is a full-service travel company based in Alexandria, Egypt, offering diverse experiences and a genuine commitment to ecotourism, with a team that provides travellers with everything they need and more!

Time to get to know the team behind HubAdventure:

Founder Ahmed Fathy, an Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST) graduate with over 16 years of engineering management experience and a deep interest in business development, decided to make a career shift and follow his passions only to later launch numerous start-ups and businesses and tap into a variety of industries, including HubAdventure. Along with his co-founder and Operations Manager, Sameh Belal, who is an Alexandria University Faculty of Commerce graduate with over 6 Years of experience in Travel agency operations, HubAdventure is run by a team of locals that are keen on the development of the tourism scene in their hometown.

The youthful brains driving the product development include Innovation Manager Mohamed Yehia, an ambitious historian, social entrepreneur, and educator with a Master's Degree in History from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). In order to further pursue his passions, Yehia is participating in a variety of social sciences, humanities, and public history programmes around Egypt. He has even just started his own business called Semsemya, a company that specializes in educational and rural tourism.

Yasmine Hafez is a second-year PhD researcher at London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and a Senior Researcher at HubAdventure specialised on ecotourism. Her academic and professional experiences exposed her to various stories, which inspired and shaped her interest in researching the communities that live around the river's lakes, leading to the creation of her project "Lakeview: An Alternative History of Nile Basin Water Politics," in which she documents and analyses the precarity of the livelihoods of those directly living with and from basin water, in social and ecological terms, in order to build more comprehensible water policies.

Alia ElZarai is a female entrepreneur, artist, lifelong learner and graduate with a B.Sc in Pharmacy from the British University in Egypt. Though a pharmacist in profession, she has been interested in public service and local civic society since she was a teenager. Alia, who was born and raised in Ismailia, has been an engaged citizen and enthusiastic leader in her community for the past 10 years. She was extensively involved in the community, volunteering and leading activities and has worked as an art director, producer, and stylist in the film and music sectors for two years, pursuing her passion for art and handcrafts. Alia is now pursuing a career in specialized tourist sectors, particularly slow tourism, by leveraging her abilities and expertise in hospitality, art, and management. She is currently HubAdventure's operations officer.

The young, diverse, and ambitious team is setting groundbreaking examples and unique adventures in a market hungry for new adventures for both domestic and international travellers, with a special emphasis on a sustainable, respectful, mindful travel approach that highlights the true essence of some of Egypt's hidden gems, particularly the Lakes of Edku and Mariout area. We are really excited to see what the HubAdventure team has in store for us and are looking forward to seeing how the Med Pearls project and the provided EU-funded subgrants will help shape the future of tourism in Egypt!

To learn more about the first Egyptian subgrant awardee and to book your next trip, please visit: http://www.hubadventure.com/