Sajana Bhadel is a co-founder of Girls Empowered by Travel Nepal, which is a NGO that provides leadership and experiential travel opportunities for women in Nepal. Apart from this, Bhadel is also a founder of Explore Hub Nepal, a local travel agency which provides immersive travel experiences to travellers and promotes eco-tourism.

But how did this enterprise take place? In 2015, an earthquake took away Sajana’s home, and she lost her job. Then, she took control of the situation and got involved in helping people by making shelters and basic needs distributions in her small village Changunarayan, also becoming a social worker from a school teacher. In 2017, she co-founded Girls Empowered by Travel Nepal to enhance the leadership and entrepreneurship skills of marginalised girls through travel.

As the 4th largest industry in Nepal, tourism is certainly a male dominated sector, in which the main problems are the unhealthy marketplace, with a strong competition which doesn’t allow local benefit, and the fact that small businesses and female-led operations are struggling to revive.

Explore Hub is a clear example of women taking power in the tourism area: in fact, most of the tours and workshops are led by women with years of experience who promote entrepreneurship trainings in remote areas in collaborations with Girls Empowered by Travel Nepal. Explore Hub promotes some important values such as: inclusion, sustainable and resilient travel.

It also has the goal to organise well managed immersive travel experiences, supporting the local tourism business specially led by women entrepreneurs and bringing more women into the mainstream of the tourism industry. It’s chasing the aim of fulfilling the 2030 sustainable development goal by bringing more women in the mainstream of tourism industry; giving back part of its income to the community (10% goes to upscale the skills of women or support them with equipment and training); helping to introduce the sustainable and inclusive tourism through homestays experiences and less carbon footprints,collaborating with different local partners like Community Homestay Network and local women-led enterprises.

These professional working women are also committed to environmental responsibility:actually, during the tour they will be using electric vehicles, and plastic will be forbidden.

Travellers will also have the opportunity to interact with ethnic and local communities, thanks to the opportunity of staying with host families, they will have the opportunity to experience an Ethnic and Heritage food tour, or learning Folk Arts in the Himalaya, or either an eco-trek.

Indeed, what’s being proposed by this organisation is a real gem for those people that are interested in themes such as inclusion and sustainability, it is a real occasion not to be missed in case you are in Nepal!

INFO

Site: https://explorehubnepal.com/

Telephone: +977 984-0710813

Email: explorehubnepal@gmail.com

Facebook: @explorehubnepal

Instagram: @explore_hub_nepal