The Story Behind Tour Socotra

We like to say that Tour Socotra started all the way back in 1986 when our owner and co-founder, Yahya Banafrar, was born in the village of Hadiboh.

He grew up on the island, attended school there, and began his journey as a tour guide on Socotra in 2004. In 2011, he co-founded Tour Socotra with his uncle Ahmed. Recognizing the importance of formal education in hospitality, he left the island to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Sunderland in the UK. But despite everything the world had to offer, he couldn’t wait to come home to apply what he had learned and share it with the island he loves.

He returned in 2015 and began helping numerous tour agencies on Socotra get off the ground, quietly laying the foundation for what Tour Socotra would become. In 2023, the team grew with the addition of a small international team to handle bookings, marketing, and sales — bringing global reach to a deeply local operation.

And that’s what makes us who we are. Yahya, our guides, our drivers, our chefs; everyone on the ground is from Socotra, born and raised. We are a proudly local team, and sustainability for our island and its community is at the heart of everything we do.

Together, we are Tour Socotra; Simply Different.