Exclusive: Q&A with Mr Mohammed A Alkhamis, Co-Founder and General Manager of Delta Adventures, a specialized Saudi Tour operator.

Q. Mr. Alkhamis (right), thank you for meeting me in Riyadh and for giving us the opportunity to know about you and your business. What can you tell the readers about yourself?

A. Our late father (Abdullah Bin Khamis) was one of the leading historians and geographers of the Arabian Peninsula. He frequently roamed every part of the region and wrote books about it.

We grew up joining most of his journeys, which gave us first-hand knowledge of the desert and other parts of KSA. We continued traveling and exploring remote areas of the country for the past forty years.

When KSA opened its doors to tourism, it was the opportunity for us to establish Delta Adventures Company. The idea is to utilize our vast experience in venturing into the desert with all the needed logistics to serve our potential customers. Our motto is we take you to unreachable places.

Q. You’ve chosen the unique niche market of adventure tourism focusing on unique destinations such as “the empty quarter” and the Asir province and decided not to focus on other unique places such as AlUla. Can you please explain to our readers why?

A. Our primary focus is desert adventures such as The Empty Quarter and The Great Nafoud. These trips are seasonal during cool weather. In the summer, we organize trips to Asir region due to the fair climate.

AlUla is a well-established and serviced area, therefore, we don’t feel Delta Adventures services are needed for the time being.

Q. Following the previous question, if you don’t really rely on the umbrella of the Saudi Tourism Authority marketing, how can you get to foreign travelers in all corners of the world?

A. Saudi Tourism Authority marketing is always needed. They market the country as a whole. Our segment is part of it. For foreign travelers to know about Delta Adventures, we rely on social media and Online sites.

Q. The Empty Quarter is one of the most isolated places on earth. Almost zero cellular reception and no infrastructure of any kind. How do you support the huge logistics that are required in having these amazing tours?

A. That is the trademark of our company. With decades of experience, Delta Adventures is able to manage the huge logistics to organize safe, enjoyable, thrilling memories for a lifetime experience.

Q. Knowing that it’s impossible to travel in the Empty quarter in the summer, what are you using all the logistics for during the long summer season?

A. We switch our operations to the Asir region, which enjoys mild weather all year round. It offers different views, but we do keep the adventures going

Q. Now that the Kingdom is opening itself to all international visitors/tourists, which areas of the Kingdom would you consider taking in for your 2023 programs?

A. As mentioned on our online site, we have ten different products. The main ones are The Empty Quarter, The Great Nafoud, and the Al Hadb Mountains.

Final word: I believe that KSA needs more tourism enterprises such as Delta Adventure focusing not on beach holidays in fancy resorts but offering well-traveled people an unforgettably unique memory that can be experienced only in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

For those of you who are interested, I would recommend to take a look at the Delta Adventures web site at: www.deltadventures.com or on LinkedIn: Delta Adventures

Joseph Fischer is the CEO of Vision Hospitality & Travel - An international lodging & hospitality consulting firm. He is a veteran hotelier with over 30 years of extensive management experience in the global lodging Industry.

A strategic “out-of-the-box” thinker, visionary, with plenty of tangible and ready-to-be-implemented ideas. Joseph is a frequent contributing writer on 4Hoteliers.com global new portal.

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