Core Values
Learn more about our mission, vision and 5 core values in our manifesto
We provide more than food tours.
We create responsible, culturally rooted experiences that connect travellers with the people, histories and food traditions that shape Cape Town.
Our work is guided by our Tourism 2.0 approach to responsible and sustainable tourism, rooted in the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism (2002). Tourism 2.0 recognises that tourism should not only benefit visitors, but also contribute meaningfully to the communities and small businesses that make destinations unique, through inclusive hiring, fair revenue sharing, heritage preservation, honest storytelling and long-term partnerships.
We are guided by five core values: inclusivity, economic equity, narrative justice, cultural integrity and Ubuntu hospitality. These principles shape every aspect of our work and the role we aim to play in building a more responsible and inclusive tourism economy.
Our mission
To create a more inclusive tourism economy through experiences that build bridges between people, tell a fuller story of Cape Town, and deliver greater economic value for the people and small businesses that make the city what it is.
Our vision
Every visitor should leave with a deeper understanding of a place, and more people who call that place home should benefit from their visit.
Our commitment to growing our positive impact led us to establish the African Food Business Fund in 2024, a non-profit organisation that seeks to bridge the resource gaps of African food businesses in the city centre.
The 5 CORE VALUES of UNEXPLORED
For us, inclusive tourism means more than welcoming everyone. It means making sure that the people and businesses usually left out of tourism have a place in it and benefit from it.
We are committed to upholding high ethical standards and actively working against discrimination, including racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and other forms of bias. We aim to foster a welcoming and respectful environment for everyone. While we take pride in being South African, we also honour the invaluable contributions of people who live here and members of the African diaspora. We prioritise humility, respect and inclusivity in all that we do.
We strive to make our experiences as accessible as possible, whatever your ability. We welcome guests with disabilities or mobility challenges and are dedicated to making reasonable adjustments for full participation and enjoyment. If you have specific accessibility needs, please inform us in advance, and we will make every effort to accommodate them.
To cater to our diverse community, we offer experiences in English, and in isiXhosa or German on request. Translation services in French or other languages may also be arranged on request, at an additional cost, payable in cash on the day. Please email us at least 48 hours in advance to request translation services. While availability is not guaranteed, we will do our utmost to assist.
Whether you have dietary preferences, allergies, mobility challenges or any other needs, we are here to make sure your experience is enjoyable and comfortable. For guests who need a slower pace, we recommend a private experience at no extra cost, subject to availability and guide schedules. You will find more details in our FAQ.
Tourism should benefit the people who make a place what it is. As Cape Town’s tourism economy grows, we keep asking one question: who benefits?
We work with small, independent food businesses, many of them Black-, Brown- and migrant-owned, including informal vendors, community kitchens and family-run eateries in the city centre, Salt River, Woodstock and Bellville. We share revenue fairly and build long-term partnerships that bring these businesses regular, predictable income and help sustain the livelihoods of the families and staff behind them.
Our guests’ spending covers between 30% and 50% of the monthly rent of our five core partner businesses.
Whose stories are told, and who gets to tell them, matters.
Cape Town is often sold as a dream destination, but its history of slavery, colonialism, apartheid and forced removals, and its present-day inequality, tell a far more complex story. We share this fuller story from a decolonial perspective, honestly and without stereotypes, and we raise awareness of the social, spatial and economic inequalities that remain today.
We centre the voices of the cooks, traders and communities whose stories are rarely heard, so that our guests understand Cape Town through the people who live and work here.
We never stage or contrive any part of an experience. Our guests meet people in their own kitchens, shops and neighbourhoods, as they are.
We celebrate Cape Town’s cultural diversity, from African, Cape Malay and Creole food traditions to the cuisines of the African diaspora, and we share the history and cultural significance of the dishes and ingredients along the way. In a city changing fast through gentrification, we work to help preserve the heritage, food traditions and spaces that make Cape Town what it is.
In 2026, this work earned us the Silver Award for Championing Cultural Diversity at the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards.
Ubuntu, “I am because we are”, is at the heart of how we host. Our guests, guides, vendors and partners share the same table.
We keep our groups small, host every experience with two guides and personalise each experience to our guests. We are transparent in our pricing, policies and communication, and we act with integrity towards our guests, our team and our partners.
Our registered tour guides follow the code of conduct of the Western Cape Government, and we keep improving our experiences through feedback from our guests and partners.