UpscalE

The concept of luxury travel has fundamentally changed and evolved over the years. Industry players in the know argue that the glamour associated with opulent accommodations and crystal chandeliers has once and for all made way for a very different kind of upscale travel: the luxury of adventure, experience, authenticity and uninterrupted time.

To Abercrombie & Kent’s Geoffrey Kent, personalized service is at the heart of this new definition of luxury.

“True luxury is the privilege of discovery, adventure, relaxation and insight, enjoyed in a context that perfectly suits the experience,” he said.

These thoughts are echoed by Piper & Heath’s Chris Liebenberg, a Safari Pros member who said today’s luxury travelers are becoming bored with the idea of traditional luxury.

The old concept of luxury required the ability to be able to spend greatly, and do it guilt-free, Liebenberg said. As our planet shows more and more scars from human consumption, he said, a new, more considerate traveler has emerged who is reluctant to simply consume for the sake of consuming.

Wilderness Safaris business manager Craig Glatthaar added that those who have the time and resources to obtain anything they desire now find that what they always perceived as luxury seems hollow in nature.

“Indulgence is no longer fashionable and enviable,” Glatthaar said. “You almost need societal permission or endorsement to indulge, especially if it is ostentatious. However, if your indulgence can make a difference to improving the world, it is again a social currency and an emotional reward.”

Darren Humphreys, founder and owner of Travel Sommelier, a Safari Pros member, said, “Discerning luxury travelers have developed a collective conscience. They no longer covet luxury for luxury’s sake. Key for them is to travel in a purposeful, sustainable and mindful way and engage in hands-on experiences.”

In this new luxury definition, where authenticity, experience and purpose play a key role, Africa, with its conservation initiatives, wildlife and untouched nature, is without a doubt the destination of choice.

“Africa is enormous and diverse,” Glatthaar said, “offering a variety of meaningful and immersive life-changing experiences that vary from country to country and region to region, from extraordinary wildlife encounters to vast tracts of beautiful wilderness areas that offer the new luxury travelers of today the perfect opportunity to disconnect [in order] to reconnect, with themselves, with nature and with their families at the same time, while also getting to know Africa’s beautiful people, heritage and culture.”

Alluring Africa’s Sunit Sanghrajka, a Safari Pros member, agreed, asserting that true luxury is the adrenaline rush you feel in Devil’s Pool at Victoria Falls as you peer over the largest curtain of falling water in the world. Luxury is appreciating the sounds of lions calling to one another at dusk, their roars amplified by the remoteness of the bush, while you savor an ice-cold gin and tonic. Luxury is seeing the Milky Way in Namibia more clearly than you ever have in your life, bringing into perspective your place within the universe.

How can luxury operators differentiate Africa’s unique offering?

The roar of the lion, the beauty of the landscape and vastness of Africa is the same for a budget traveler as it is for a luxury traveler.

Janet McLaughlin, senior travel adviser for the Provident Travel Corp., a Virtuoso agency, sums it up this way: “You do not have to stay at a five-star lodge or tented camp. It’s not the money; it is the perceived value of the experience. The animals are the same whether you are at a luxury lodge or at a small, modest tented camp. What becomes the luxury is the experience of that moment in time when you are seeing the animals, smelling the animals and vegetation and becoming a part of their world.”

How then can travel industry players differentiate the experience for the luxury traveler?

It’s the little touches that differentiate the product, according to Paul Tully, sales and marketing manager for Captured in Africa, a safari-focused tour operator. Whether it is the service level, the professionalism of the safari guide or the little extras at the safari camp, it is still very much possible to make the luxury experience stand out.

Kent agreed, saying, “Seamless service, safety and security are a given. But it is the unexpected touches — what we at Abercrombie & Kent call “& moments” — that inspire a sense of wonder that elevate an adventure into a true luxury experience.”

Offering unexpected luxury in remote destinations with local experts at your side sounds simple enough on paper, Kent said. Yet, bringing it to life requires unceasing effort, impeccable standards and a refusal to settle for second best.

“We learned quickly that the only way to guarantee quality is to control as much of the end-to-end experience as possible,” Kent said. “That’s why we have a resident guide waiting for you when you arrive who escorts you to your hotel and lets you relax in the lobby while he handles the check-in arrangements. Every part of the experience is managed. Nothing is left to chance.”

Chris Anagnostellis of the game-lodge management company African Anthology, pointed to the Kapama Private Game Reserve’s fly-in package as an example of an end-to-end luxury experience. The package includes VIP business class lounge facilities and a private air charter aboard the reserve’s own PC-12, landing directly on the game reserve’s blacktop airstrip.

“This is an example of an exclusive and luxurious travel itinerary with the experience extending from transfers, lounges, flights and accommodation,” Anagnostellis said.

Helicopter outings are becoming increasingly popular among U.S. luxury clientele, according to Elizabeth Gordon, co-founder and CEO of luxe safari company Extraordinary Journeys. Exploring a region by helicopter, she said, feels incredibly engaging and offers the opportunity to stop in otherwise inaccessible destinations, explore on foot, then return to the skies.

Gordon said fun helicopter trips include fishing at the top of Mount Kenya on Lake Alice, spending a night in Lake Turkana or landing in the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, one of the lowest points in Africa.

Glatthaar cited hot air ballooning as another exceptional experience.

“Many travelers don’t even realize how exclusive the luxury of space is until they are standing on that dune in the middle of the desert in Namibia with no one else around them or while on a hot air balloon safari floating over the Busanga Plains in Zambia. That moment when you truly reconnect again, with yourself and nature, is truly priceless. The luxury of time, the luxury of space.”

JamieRose Briones, director of strategy and development for sustainable resort developer Luxury Frontiers, added that travelers today want immersion in wilderness areas.

“On safari, not only are travelers truly off the beaten track in these off-the-grid nature locations, but they can see and hear wildlife all around them, even from the comfort of their experiential rooms,” Briones said. “As you know, many safari products are not brick-and-mortar lodges but are instead tented camps, which enable guests to listen to wildlife sounds 24/7.”

Luca Franco, CEO and founder of Luxury Frontiers, added that the bar for creative hospitality solutions has never been higher. Pop-up hotels can fulfill a variety of different hospitality needs as a result of their versatile design and light-touch construction, he said, adding, “Because of a pop-up hotel’s ephemeral nature, it can offer thrills unlike what you’d find at a traditional hotel or lodge.”

Although luxury lodges in Africa used to apply a strict adults-only policy, this has changed significantly over the years, with children and families increasingly being part of the luxury experience. Sherwin Banda, president of travel planning company African Travel, said that traditionally, luxury clients were between the ages of 55 and 75, because “these were the people who had the time and the money to travel.”

But today, he said, “We are beginning to see a shift. Our statistics show an emerging luxury client between 35 and 55. These are people who have opted to marry later in life and have concentrated on their careers, affording them great incomes. They are traveling with their children and want to share the luxury experience with them.”
Sean Kritzinger, co-owner and executive chairman of luxury operator Giltedge Africa, said that kids are now definitely part of the luxury experience.

“Lodges and resorts often arrange bespoke experiences for children, like interactive bush cooking, bush art, learning about animal tracks and sounds, etc.,” he said. “The children are the future customers of the lodge, so they should be treated as such.”

Extraordinary Journeys’ Gordon ticked off the way the African safari has changed over the years.

“The days of game-drive-only safaris are long gone,” she said. “People can now take helicopters to go fishing in remote areas, spend time with the Samburu in Kenya, canoe down the Zambezi river, horseback ride or simply explore on foot. Travelers will continue to want unique experiences and to feel they are contributing in a positive way to the destination through their travel and the money they are spending. Luxury travel will continue to mean seeking out those hard-to-get-to destinations, avoiding crowds and doing things and going places people haven’t before.”

Joss Kent, CEO of AndBeyond, agrees and said that coming to Africa isn’t only about seeing the Big Five game animals; there is so much more to it. Bespoke itineraries give guests a glimpse into the bigger picture, enabling them to really make a difference.

The biggest shift in the Africa luxury market, he said, has been that more travelers are wanting to roll up their sleeves and get involved with community development and conservation activities.

“Participative conservation experiences,” he said, “are strongly emerging as companies like ours break down the barriers behind what happens behind the scenes running a sustainability and conservation company and what happens front of stage in terms of guest experiences. Immersive cultural experiences can be equally perspective- and life-changing.”

Giltedge Africa’s Kritzinger said Africa offers experiences that simply can’t be bought off the shelf.

“Private guides take clients surfing, mountain biking or [stand-up paddleboarding]. They can enjoy private picnics on the beach or mountains, visit unique eateries and coffee shops off the beaten track that are sometimes only known to locals or attend private dinners cooked by a local chef with a story to tell.”

Another example of an exclusive experience is visiting Robben Island with Nelson Mandela’s former prison guard.

“If our clients are interested in South Africa’s history, we always recommend a lunch with Christo Brand who shares his story of being a warden on Robben Island while Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there,” Kritzinger said.

Real luxury has three hallmarks, according to Geoffrey Kent: authenticity, flexibility and a sense of well-being.

Unique and immersive experiences exist both on a wildlife and a cultural level in Africa. Tully said a fantastic experience for travelers is to take part in wildlife conservation efforts.

“This is both a positive and negative aspect, considering that we shouldn’t need to treat wildlife with such protection,” Tully said. “But sadly, following so much poaching and wildlife crime, such experiences need to exist. It does, however, mean that this opens up a very unique part of Africa and travel: getting up close and gaining an insight into conservation, often alongside vets and researchers.”

It is crucial, however, to verify the authenticity of the experience and ensure that these experiences are not exploited by carrying out unnecessary activities, such as unnecessary rhino tagging or lion collaring, Tully said. He added, “When done on a planned schedule, these activities are a great way for tourists to actively give back and learn at the same time.”

Tully said that, generally, people know when they are being given or shown the real thing.

“Unfortunately,” he added, “there are various inauthentic experiences in Africa, such as lion cub petting facilities, which are a complete scam, elephant rides and captive dolphin shows, all of which are to be avoided at all costs. When you provide the real thing to travelers, they will always appreciate and understand.”

Joss Kent agreed, asserting that true conservation always translates into authentic guest experiences.

“Until a guest comes on safari with us and sees a rhino in the bush just a few feet from them, it might be hard for them to identify with the cause,” he said. “But after that experience, they undoubtedly do. They get it.”

Provident Travel Corp.’s Janet McLaughlin said that cultural encounters also need to provide authenticity, because people do not want to sit passively to view orchestrated tribal ceremonies put on for tourists.

“Travelers now want to be culturally engaged with the people they are visiting,” she said. “It could be meeting a local family in their village and finding out about them — what they like to eat, what a day in their lives are really like, focusing on the real, not the contrived. Travelers today value sustainability and the opportunity to give back, for example, teaching at a village school or helping a village build a clean water system.”

Richard Kabazzi, director of Mukisa Safaris in Uganda, said that travelers might, for example, request to be taken to a remote village within Uganda to learn more about a certain community. These travelers do not mind spending a night in a small cottage, as long as they have gained true insights into the community.

It can be hard for travel advisers to determine just how authentic luxury travelers really want their experiences to be. And that, Liebenberg said, is where the art of itinerary design really comes into play.

“The itinerary planner really needs to invest the time and be able to bring a healthy degree of psychology to differentiate between the idea the traveler has and the reality on the ground.” Liebenberg said. “Matching expectations is the key to bringing home thrilled travelers.”

Joss Kent agreed, adding that it is absolutely vital for suppliers and travel sellers to do their homework first and to truly listen to the needs of the traveler.

“If the guest is looking for an old-school, gold-tap luxury and you send them to a unique ecodestination that is more about the luxury of space, then the journey isn’t going to benefit anyone,” he said. “It is important to pair the needs of the luxury traveler with the right operator/experience.”

Luxury travel to Africa is expected to become more sustainable and conscientious in coming years.

Sanghrajka said, “In order for the wild areas and communities in Africa to survive and thrive, low-volume, higher-spend tourism is crucial. Investors and conservationists will try to revive many parts of Africa that have been ravaged by overtourism, poaching, hunting or development. Luxury conservation and community-based, sustainable travel is key to expanding the wilderness areas.”

Liebenberg said that the future of luxury travel is undoubtedly in Africa, as the continent has all the major requirements of authenticity and exclusivity that the modern luxury traveler requires and because these attributes can be enjoyed organically without much need for manipulation or curation.

“I believe Africa represents, perhaps better than any other destination, the true future of luxury,” he said.