We are only 4 weeks into 2016 and already I can feel the force of the changes coming for 2016. Being a believer in the Universal Law of Attraction I know that many of the coming changes in my own life are the result of wishes I have been sending to the Universe over the last few years but especially the last two months. Let me bring you briefly up to day (anyone who is interested).
Through an amazing amount of synchronicity I swopped lives with my son Jonathan in Jan 2014. It all just lined up for us for that to happen without either of us consciously wishing it – the Universe just responded to both of our deepest unconscious wishes. Really nice when that happens. Jonathan took over the running of Mara House – along with doing redecoration and repairs, while I went to Ireland, spent lots of time with my grandchildren, learned some new skills, basked in the cold and rain, got new perspectives and clarified what I wanted in the next segment of my life.
6 months later – the kindly Universe intervened again – Jonathan headed off on a new adventure, handing Mara House over to a great guy from Cairo with whom I have become great friends, trust him completely and my guests love – thanks to Facebook messenger and google drive we talk or communicate several times a day. Mara House and guests have been in good hands.
Back up to 2016 and more changes are here. I am learning the languages of the internet (watch out World for when I finish!!), how to write code, design websites etc. A whole new world has opened up for me and I can’t wait to share my great ideas with you. I am going to be doing a lot of travelling this year and Egypt is calling me back – big time! I have my flight booked for March – no return date coming to mind so far. The Universe is doing such a good job in orchestrating events I am keeping hands off til the next obvious step shows itself. Life is so exciting this way. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean I have no plans – it means I tell the Universe how I want to feel and it takes care of the details.
Stepping back from the day to day running of Mara House has given me new insights, information and perspective.
- I was always happy to help anyone and everyone organise their entire Egyptian experience and this usually involved anywhere between 15 and 50+ emails being exchanged with each enquirer. What I did not see was the amount of time this was taking so I am scaling back on that, and I intend to only do this with my Mara House guests from now on.
- Our tours in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan which were designed originally to make life easier and better for our own guests at rock bottom prices – have attracted many tourists apart from our own guests
- Tourists get bogged down and frustrated by the amount of mis-information, old information and non-transparent info regarding Egypt they come across in research.
- A large percentage of tourists I communicate with have little idea where the sites are in Egypt and how much is involved in organising actually even getting from one place to the next in a logical order.
- A huge percentage of tourists do not realise the wealth of sites that are open to them in either Cairo or Luxor. Even the number of tours I provide in Cairo is only a fraction of what is to be seen. One over-day trip from the Red Sea to Cairo or Luxor is a waste of money and stressful in the length of time lost in just the travel – plus the countryside is boring and unchanging. Luxor requires a minimum of two days but preferably 3 to experience the best both in terms of relaxation and experience. What is the point in being shuttled in a hot, exhausted state from monument to monument?
- Tourists do not realise how difficult it is to get around Cairo as the sites and monuments are spread out over such a vast area. They are overwhelmed on arrival by the traffic, chaos and lack of points of information, not to mention language difficulties.
- Tourists are unaware of the shopping potential in terms of cash savings that are open to them in Cairo… and Cairo is unaware of the tourist potential in terms of cash spending in that area!
- Tourists tend to book their flights and decide on their time in Egypt BEFORE doing their research on HOW to spend their time in the country.
- In my opinion if tourists had better information they would be better served by organising a first trip to Egypt taking in the priority experiences with the open mind towards coming back to experience more. Unfortunatelly, many rush in and rush out, believeing they have “done Egypt” or “crossed Egypt off their bucket list”. Even more unfortunate is that so many visitors decide that the experience is not one they want to repeat because they met up with the wrong people. The internet is full of such stories.
- Mara House guests almost always do their tours with my guides and drivers
- Mara House guests mostly end up taking my recommendations for their Nile Cruise, Cairo tours and Cairo accommodation
- Mara House guests unreservedly say our food is the best they have had in Egypt.
- Price is important to Mara House guests but they value the guarantee of a quality experience above that.
- Mainstream foreign media is still keeping the large numbers of would-be-tourists out of Egypt, without just cause.
- The travellers that are returning are independent travellers who are seeing past the media stories, recognise it is an opportune moment to see Egypt given the lack of crowds at the monuments and have the cash to spend on middle of the road to 5 star accommodation, guides etc.
- Lastly Mara House attracts the nicest and happiest of people from all countries, and I trust the Universe to continue that trend!
Seeing all the above now clearly I am ready to make some radical changes to the way we operate which will enhance my guests’ experience and save their cash at the same time.
- 100% of my emailing time, organisational efforts and advice is now reserved for my guests. I have to cut out the time helping non-guests. They should be getting their help from the hotels and service providers in Egypt they are giving their business and cash to. Sorry if this sounds harsh but there are only so many hours in the day. It is not about the money – it’s about my time.
- Our tour prices for Cairo, Luxor and Aswan are going up this week
MARA HOUSE GUESTS COME FIRST so here is our revised”LUXOR package – which I have no hesitation in saying, (hand on heart), is seriously the best offer currently available in Egypt in terms of quality of service, value for money and guest experience.