The tech disruptors helping rebuild Africa's tourism industry
While the world was shut down during the Covid pandemic, Africa’s travel industry was busy working on new projects. Here are some of the results and how they can help you sell more holidays
Almost exactly three years ago, the UK locked down and by the end of March 2020, more than 100 countries worldwide had instituted full or partial shutdowns. Most travel professionals are keen to forget the catastrophic disruption that the Covid pandemic wreaked upon the industry. Yet a number of African-based entrepreneurs took the opportunity to become disruptors themselves, realising ideas that could help drive sales forward and bring about change once the chaos had subsided.
The Africa Hub
“During the darkest days of Covid, the Africa Hub was born, emerging as a tool that helped keep agents engaged, forward-looking and positive during lockdown when travel felt so out of reach,” says the platform’s founder, Anita Powell.
The Africa Hub launched in February 2021 offering destination content such as webinars, itinerary ideas, maps and factsheets for Africa experts and global sales teams alike.
“With over 3,000 agents from 78 countries engaging with the site, it is exciting to see its training power and potential as a one-stop authoritative resource encapsulating this vast and complex continent,” Powell adds.
This February saw the addition of the Accommodation Hub, which showcases interesting accommodation in each destination.
Africa is not the company’s first and final frontier either. Beneath a mother company, the Travel Hub Collection, Powell plans to launch the Middle East Hub this summer and the Latin America Hub in 2024.
theafricahub.co.uk
Weeva
A vision for a more sustainable, resilient future for the tourism and hospitality industry brought sustainability consultant Julie Cheetham to the point of establishing digital platform Weeva. Since launching in October 2022, it has welcomed over 100 properties.
She says: “Covid-19 brought home just how vulnerable the travel sector was; it had grown unchecked for too long and lost sight of how connected it was to the natural world.
“We wanted to build a tool that could increase resilience and strengthen the sector by mainstreaming sustainable operations and enabling even the most ‘green-averse’ properties to improve their impact.”
Weeva helps businesses measure, track and improve their impact across a balanced scorecard of commercial, conservation, community and cultural parameters – going far beyond a simple carbon emissions focus.
Companies can gather data easily and then view their progress via a live tracking tool. Weeva can then help map out a journey to operating more sustainably and companies can choose whether to publicise their Weeva progress score.
weeva.earth
Safari Portal
The brainchild of husband and wife team, Phil and Rachel West, Safari Portal is an app and itinerary builder.
It can be overbranded, features high-quality graphics, is mobile-friendly for both agents and clients, allows agents to pull content from its database directly into proposals or create their own and, despite the name, covers destinations worldwide.
The system can also be used to collect, organise, manage, and share information such as passports, health and dietary requirements, flights and contacts.
Rachel West says: “We wanted to create something to solve our own problems. We needed to be able to fully customise proposals for clients and there was nothing out there allowing us to do it as we wanted. Creating an itinerary proposal was always a chore and it has become something fun that we can be proud to share.
“To date we have done almost no marketing, it has all been word of mouth, and we have thousands of agents worldwide using it. All our reviews on G2.com (an online software marketplace) are five star.”
safariportal.app
Our Africa Travel
One of the worst effects of Covid was the lack of human connection. Working in such a sociable industry, travel professionals found it especially difficult. As virtual events became a popular way to continue to converse, learn and collaborate, Our Africa Travel emerged.
A small group of like-minded individuals keen to fill the void left by all the cancelled trade shows, launched the show in August 2020. Running over three weeks, across three different time zones, it saw 321 exhibitors meeting with 1,199 buyers. The show has continued each year and partnered with the African Travel & Tourism Association (ATTA) in 2021.
Co-founder Storm Napier says: “We pride ourselves on being affordable and inclusive, attracting exhibitors from well-established global brands to the ‘little guys’ who don’t have big budgets for international marketing.”
The variety of companies involved means it can be a great place for agents to meet hidden gems they may otherwise struggle to discover.
ourafrica.travel
Africa Change Makers
Like many countries, Africa was hit hard by the pandemic. Lots of the work supporting conservation and community empowerment was set back by the lack of tourism which it relied on.
African Bush Camps chief executive and founder, Beks Ndlovu and Ultimate Safaris, Namibia managing director, Tristan Cowley, rallied other like-minded operators to form Africa Change Makers, a collaborative initiative to create an emergency fund that would support African conservation and local communities and that can act as a war chest for any future calamities.
Cowley says: “Co-investing $5 each per bed night sold is the basis of the movement’s long-term financial support model for the people, wildlife, and their future. This could be supporting ranger salaries, wildlife water installation maintenance, fuel for ranger transportation or conservation-based communities that depend on tourism, such as schools. If tourism dollars don’t flow for whatever reason, it ensures that crucial conservation and community work continues.”
Coral Tree Travel
Launching a business during a global pandemic may seem foolhardy to some but British couple, Mike and Tess Kelly, saw it as an opportunity.
Their dream of setting up a tour operator encouraging more families to travel in Africa was realised when they were both furloughed from their jobs in luxury tour operating. Officially trading for two years now, trade-friendly Coral Tree Travel is the UK’s first Africa-specialist family travel company. Their team of three are experts in Africa for families, which can be a minefield due to the complex nature of getting around between national parks.
Tess Kelly says: “Africa offers such an impactful holiday for families because of the sheer variety to be found and experienced there, in every sense.
“Our business supports local communities by ensuring that we only ever work with partners who share our sustainability and conservation ethos.”
Through Coral Tree they are also able to provide support to schoolgirls in Kenya and Tanzania, with plans to expand this continentally in the very near future.
coraltreetravel.com
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