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Responsible travel in the Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is one of the most beautiful destinations for world travellers. We are proud to present you this wonderful country with a local touch! Our experienced Ethiopian/European team is ready to organise your perfect trip. Founded in 2006, we are a registered tour operator with offices in Addis Abeba and The Netherlands. With our organisation you can expect the knowledge and prices of a local agent and the quality and insurances of a European company.
Our team
We are a small team of like-minded travel professionals led by Getinet Seyoum, Saskia Kloezeman and Caroline de Greeff, with a huge passion for Ethiopia and creating extraordinary, responsible travel experiences. Our team works closely together to provide seamless itinerary planning and customer service and welcome you with Ethiopian warmth and hospitality. We have offices in Addis Ababa and Ubbergen, feel free to pop in and say hello if you are in the area!
Getinet Seyoum (Gech), Co-owner and General Manager Ethiopia
Gech is our man with a vision! He has been guiding tourists in Ethiopia for over 15 years. Born in the Gamo Gofa region, Getch grew up in the beautiful countryside of the south and started out taking backpackers on adventures by hitch-hiking around the country. Later he moved to Addis Ababa and qualified in Tour Guiding and Tour Operation before becoming the co-owner of Yared Tour & Travel with his wife Saskia Kloezeman in 2017. Getch has exceptional qualities as a guide and is very hands-on - he cares about local communities, travels with fun and passion, and it’s his dream to create more genuine, responsible, community-based tourism experiences in Ethiopia.
Caroline De Greeff - General Manager Netherlands
Caroline first came to Ethiopia in 2009 and instantly lost her heart to the special country. She started organising trips across Ethiopia, and three years later launched a sustainable travel company (Fair2.travel). She is involved in the development of local tourism in several African countries. Caroline enjoys creating unique travel experiences and itineraries for people who want to truly discover Ethiopia, and bringing travellers to beautiful places where they get the chance to immerse in local life.
Suzan van der Beek - Marketing and sales
Growing up on a small island and then venturing out into the wide world. From a young age, I felt that Texel and the Netherlands were too small for me. I wanted to discover new places, take on challenges, learn new languages, experience freedom, and fully immerse myself in a constant adventure. That's how I lived, worked, and traveled in Africa for the past 7 years, with Ethiopia as my home base. Recently, I traded the Ethiopian sunshine for a Canadian city, and I work remotely for Yared Tour & Travel.
Ruta Mehari - Office Manager Ethiopia
Ruta, from Tigray region, has been with Yared Tour since the very beginning and is one of our most experienced and treasured team members. She head’s up the day-to-day financial management and administration of the Addis office and helps to coordinate tour arrangements with a calm and confident efficiency. She is an active environmentalist having studied Land resource and Environmental protection, and loves spending time in forests and nature.
Askale Belhu - Bookings officer
Askale joined the Addis team in the beginning of 2018 and arranges all hotel bookings and isfour tour in Ethiopia. She has a diploma in Tour guiding and Operation, and a great deal of experience working in Ethiopia tourism with excellent relationships with our suppliers. Askale is an excellent contact for shopping local Ethiopian fabrics and ingredients in Addis, and she prepares a delicious shiro - a popular Ethiopian stew made from powdered chickpeas, to share with colleagues in the office.
Wosenyeleh Nigatu - Logistics Manager, Addis Ababa
Wossen is an experienced driver and mechanic, he began working with Yared Tour in 2014 and previous to that, spent many years on the road - driving and guiding guests throughout Ethiopia. He is the stronghold of our logistics, and manages our fleet of driver-guides, sharing his expert knowledge with the office team, and coordinating operations from and in Addis Ababa.
The name Yared
Yared is one of the most famous saints of Ethiopia and the Orthodox Ethiopian church. The songs he composed in the sixth century can still be heard on a daily basis on the streets of Ethiopia today, 1500 years later! For many Ethiopians, his melodies are a deep and meaningful part of their celebrations and represent their ancient, rich culture. It is precisely this profound, historical culture and pride that we want to share with our travellers, hence we honour Saint Yared in our company name.
Our story
Yared Tour & Travel was founded in 2004 by Alay Hagos and Saskia Hagos-Damen. They meet when Alay (born and raised in Ethiopia) came to the Netherlands in 1987 as a refugee. They married in 1989 and moved to Ethiopia in 1998, where they decided to share their enthusiasm for the beautiful nature, culture and history through special journeys. Since the early days, Yared Tour & Travel became the market leader for Ethiopia tours in the Netherlands and Belgium. In July 2017, Getinet Seyoum and Saskia Zloezeman who live in Addis Ababa with their two children, took over the organisation and have been since running tours and developing community tourism in Ethiopia with the team in Ethiopia and the Netherlands. In 2020 the organization expanded to Djibouti and Kenya.
Why travel with Yared Tour & Travel?
With so much to think about - where to stay? What to see and do? Planning a tour in Africa can be quite stressful. We organise everything for you from start to finish so you can sit back, relax and enjoy counting down to your trip of a lifetime. You'll be warmly welcomed in the Horn of Africa and travel with an expert local knowledge and connections to give you a unique insight into the real diverse cultures. Our vision for responsible community tourism drives everything that we do. We work closely with local people to develop community tourism and unique trekking experiences which generate new income opportunities where it is needed the most in rural communities.
Our partners
Yared Tour & Travel works with different partners to make our trips extraordinary in every way. From local women serving traditional coffee, to farmers and weavers who become special people to meet during your trip. We partner with like-minded travel agents in different countries. Our significant and long-standing partner is Fair2.travel with whom we share an office in the Netherlands.
