During the pandemic, the tourism sector was at a standstill and travelers were forced to stay at home or visit countries such as North Korea, Syria and Yemen, where visitor numbers increased while the rest of the world was in lockdown. But plagued by unrest and political instability, these vacation destinations aren’t exactly the safest. With Rocky Road Travel, Shane Horan makes such trips possible.
North Korea, Syria, Pakistan, Iran: These countries are likely to conjure up images of civil war and political oppression in most people’s minds — they are not regions you would expect to see in a tourism magazine. And yet: In recent years they have become increasingly popular holiday destinations. Shane Horan has made such trips his career.The Irish-born man has numerous contacts in the world of tourism, having been in the business for over ten years. Horan first studied geography in his native Galway and later completed a master’s degree in international organizations in Dublin. Even back then, he was interested in North Korea and Iran, which he discussed in his thesis on “Rogue Nations”.
After his studies, Horan traveled to Australia, where he worked for various backpacker travel companies. In 2012 he went to Bangkok, Thailand, and a year and a half later to the Chinese capital Beijing. There he was hired by a travel agency that specialized in trips to North Korea. He visited the country for the first time in 2014 — since then he has led over 30 tour groups to the communist state. Also from China, he organized trips to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iran and Iraq, Somalia and Turkmenistan, among others. In 2019 Horan came back to Europe and founded Rocky Road Travel in Berlin.
Today, his company offers trips to over 30 of the “most stigmatized” and “least understood” countries in the world. He often falls back on his contacts from before.For the majority of the tours, Horan works with freelance travel guides; he himself stays in Berlin most of the time and takes over the organization. Because this is a lot more difficult for a trip to North Korea than for a vacation in Mallorca. For a trip to Syria, for example, every visitor needs a security clearance from the Syrian authorities; This is the only way Horan’s customers can get a visa at the border. Months before the start of the trip, Horan ensures that his customers receive one and plans the route and accommodations together with his local contacts. Once the adventurous vacationers have arrived at their destination, they are usually accompanied by a local tour guide, in addition to the travel guide from Rocky Road Travel.
In fact, the trips that are most difficult to organize are not to countries like North Korea (which is increasingly isolating itself from the rest of the world) or Syria (where there has been a civil war since 2011 and a ceasefire was only negotiated in 2020) — instead, it is Socotra biggest logistical challenge. The island belongs to Yemen, where civil war has also been raging on the mainland since 2014, but, according to Horan, this has little impact on planning because the war is hardly noticeable on the island. Rather, the difficulty for vacationers lies in the fact that no normal airline flies to Socotra. The only offer is a weekly charter flight. Horan: “This flight is always fully booked months in advance and sometimes it is canceled at short notice or the time is changed spontaneously. So the flight connection can be very unreliable.” Despite the planning difficulties, Socotra is the most popular destination.
To ensure that all trips are safe, Horan “tests” every expedition before offering it. On these “research trips” he looks at the most famous landmarks, meets with local partners and tries out different hotels and restaurants — and he makes sure that the situation in the country is safe enough to sell organized trips there. “Of course, safety is our top priority. If the situation becomes dangerous, we will cancel the trip,” said Horan.
So far, however, his customers have never found themselves in a difficult situation during a guided trip.However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In 2016, a tour group from the British operator Hinterland Travel was traveling in Afghanistan when they were attacked by the Taliban.
Although the tourists were accompanied by a military convoy, some of them were injured.Despite the potential dangers, more and more people are driving to countries like Afghanistan and Syria, which left their borders open to tourists during the pandemic. But every upswing is accompanied by criticism, and this is also the case with Horan’s business: numerous Western media complain that tourists legitimize the mostly autocratic regimes and also support them financially with the money that flows into the country.
However, Horan emphasizes: “We are in no way advocating the governments or regimes, we are just tourists. We want to promote cultural exchange; We see it this way: traveling to a country is better than completely isolating the country. So the population there gets to know a little about what it’s like in the West, and we see what’s happening in Syria, for example.Rocky Road Travel also tries to book smaller hotels and visit local restaurants. And: Part of the profits are donated to international charities that support human rights and refugees from the destinations.
“All proceeds from our upcoming trip to Syria will go to charities in Aleppo that help victims of the recent earthquake there,” the Irishman gives an example.
Rocky Road Travel currently offers over 30 destinations, most in North Africa and the Middle East. Should the list be expanded further? Horan: “I’m always looking for new places, even if I’m very busy at the moment because I do all the organizing myself. But I’ve heard great things about Algeria and it’s getting easier to get the visa there – so that will probably be our next offer.”North Korea, Syria, Pakistan, Iran — these countries are Shane Horan’s job, and in our conversation we sense the passion with which he speaks about them.
“In the Western world you often get the impression that life there is completely different than here. But there are millions of people living there who, like us, worry about their work, relationships and families,” he says. And finally: “A lot of things there are super weird for us, but the people who live there are just like us.”
Shane Horan studied Geography in Galway and International Organizations with a focus on “Rogue Nations” in Dublin. He later lived in New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and China before coming to Berlin in 2019 and founding Rocky Road Travel.
