About · The person behind The Natives
Sohail Abbas
Founder · From Hunza
From Hunza, Sohail brings five years of hospitality and tourism experience and a research focus on sustainable tourism. He founded The Natives Travel around a conviction: visitors deserve more than sightseeing, and the mountains deserve to be known through their people.
01 — From Hunza
A native of Hunza, Sohail Abbas brings five years of experience in hospitality and tourism to The Natives Travel.
Growing up in the place others travel to see shapes how you notice a visit. The mountains are home first, and the people living among them are the heart of the story.
02 — Where the idea began
The idea began in 2018, during his university years. He noticed visitors travelling to Hunza and Skardu, stopping at familiar sightseeing spots, taking photographs, and leaving without getting to know the people who called those places home. He felt both the guests and the places deserved more.
Both the guests and the places deserved more.
Sohail first pitched an alternative in an entrepreneurship course, earning an A grade. He continued developing the idea alongside his studies: travel that connects visitors with people, everyday life, and the stories beyond the scenery.
03 — Sustainable tourism
His focus on sustainable tourism also shapes his research. Through The Natives Travel, he aims to bring that focus into journeys built around meaningful encounters and respect for the communities welcoming guests.
In practice, that means listening before arranging anything, and treating every encounter as something offered, not owed.
Knows about
What Sohail brings to a journey.
- Hunza roots
- A native of Hunza, with a local understanding of the communities and places guests travel through.
- Hospitality and tourism
- Five years of experience in hospitality and tourism.
- Sustainable tourism
- A research focus on sustainable tourism, carried into how journeys are shaped.
- People-led travel
- Founder of The Natives Travel, built around meaningful encounters with Northern Pakistan’s communities.
The journeys
Four seasons.
Four invitations.
- Navroz Nama The BeginningSpring renewal, Navroz and the everyday life of mountain communities.
- Jannat Nama The BecomingExplore Hunza and Skardu through landscapes and the people who call them home.
- Rang Nama The Golden HourHarvest rhythms, photography and golden-hour light in Skardu, Hunza and Nagar.
- Ghar Waapsi The ReturnWinter slow travel, indoor mountain life and a gentler sense of coming home.