The luxury operator has chosen the south Asian island country as its first destination outside Africa, believing it should also be on every travel agent’s radar for 2024.

The Belfast-based company has 20 years’ experience in Africa but said it is eager to expand its portfolio further afield, and has added 18 itineraries in Sri Lanka.

Trips are aimed at everyone from honeymooning couples to adventurous families, with solo and safari-beach holidays of varying paces also available, while trip durations range from nine to 16 nights. 

“Sri Lanka is an easy destination to add to our product range and we felt it was also a very good test of how we could launch a new destination,” Chris Goldring, co-founder of Mahlatini, told TTG Luxury. 

Goldring said he hopes to expand to other parts of the region later this year as well, with itineraries in India, Bhutan and Nepal all in the pipeline.

“We’re putting together an India subcontinent team,” he revealed. “We’ve recruited one of the most senior India specialists from another luxury operator, and we have another expert starting in May.”

Sri Lanka on the safari hotlist

Mahlatini is not the only travel company to have tapped into Sri Lanka’s potential as a safari-focused destination. The teardrop-shaped island has seen a substantial rise in tourism since the pandemic ended, with overseas visitors jumping to more than 1.4 million in 2023 – double that of the previous year. 

This upwards trend is only expected to continue; 600,000 travellers have already arrived in the country since January and by December 2024, this figure is anticipated to reach 2.3 million. 

One of the main appeals of Sri Lanka for Mahlatini, however, is its proximity to another popular holiday spot: the Maldives. The operator knows all too well the VIP reputation of the coral islands, and by teaming it with Sri Lanka, thinks it’s likely to attract even more business.

“It fits in quite well with our existing product portfolio, and it twins perfectly with the Maldives,” Goldring said of Sri Lanka. “Plus the flight between the two destinations is just an hour-and-a-half.”

Small is beautiful

Another pull of Sri Lanka as a safari destination is its small scale, while still packing a punch when it comes to attractions. This allows visitors to explore more in a shorter timespan, which also tends to cut transport costs. Goldring highlighted this was another key difference to most African safaris, which are typically seen as ‘more remote requiring a lot more logistical planning’. 

“Many of our clients are time sensitive,” he added. “They want the closest airport and the shortest transfer. With Sri Lanka, it’s all very close and the safaris and beaches are situated in a small area.” 

While Africa has historically reigned as the most popular place to safari, Sri Lanka is equally impressive in its flora and fauna. Home to 26 national parks, the country’s “Big 5” include Asian elephants, sloth bears and whales that migrate along its shores, as well leopards, which can sometimes be spotted in Yala National Park. And with 91 types of mammals and more than 7,500 plant species, Sri Lanka’s wildlife and vegetation makes it one of the top five hot spots for biodiversity in the world.

But as for the challenges tour operators face in Sri Lanka safaris, Goldring admitted there is still work to be done. 

“The industry probably needs a bit more commercialisation,” he said, adding that a factor holding Sri Lanka’s tourism back is its transportation system, which, while improving, has yet to meet expectations of other popular safari destinations. The island also has fewer people professionally working in the safari business, which can limit travellers’ access to expert guidance during their stay. 

This is changing however, as Goldring said “some African DMCs [destination management companies] are trying to work with the Sri Lanka government to bring in guiding expertise to uplift the safari experience”.  

Future agent opportunity 

With its passion for high-end, personalised travel, Goldring said Mahlatini is interested in collaborating with agents who have “genuine enquiries for bespoke luxury adventures”, adding that the operator prefers to work “collaboratively with designers rather than just through them”, providing advice and expertise to create a custom travel experience. 

“If a client is going to a destination we offer, and they’re not speaking to a specialist, they’re not getting the experience they should be getting,” he said. “I think it’s a risky strategy to piece it together yourself with just a little bit of research. It can often lead to problems. But if there is an opportunity to somehow work together with the client and us, then the partnership really blossoms, and we have a few agents with whom we do that a lot. They understand the way we work.”