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In this video you’ll hear from Matt Sole, Kuoni’s trade engagement executive.
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’Bigger’ safari trips on the up
In the video above we cover the leading safari trends Kuoni is seeing. Further trends include that people are travelling “bigger” and for longer – they often want to add a beach experience on to their safari, for example.
As. Sole explains: “If you think about it, safari is quite an intensive experience. It’s lots of early mornings, it’s long days. You’re taking in so much, and so to be able to go to a fantastic beach afterwards – rest, relax, be pampered, go to the spa, all of those kind of things – it really makes for a fantastic twin centre.
“And you’ve got so many different options, like the Indian Ocean – you can pair a safari with places like Mauritius or the Maldives. There are so many great beach resorts in Kenya, and Zanzibar is becoming more and more popular with some amazing resorts, including great new luxury options.”
Sole adds that KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa has both fantastic safari and beach options, particularly for families during the school holidays “because you can go and do just a couple of days safari and then you can go out and do a fantastic beach state”.
“In South Africa you’ve got some great non-wildlife adventures you can add in as well,” Sole adds. “Things like e-biking in Kenya, white-water rafting in Zimbabwe, or food and wine experiences in South Africa itself.”
Video transcript
With Kuoni’s trade engagement executive Matt Sole and TTG Media’s Jennifer Morris.
Jennifer: Welcome to our In The Spotlight video with Kuoni. Matt, could you tell us the safari destinations across Africa that Kuoni sells?
Matt: Absolutely. So we sell all the most popular hotspots that people expect. So Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the big hitters. But people are really surprised when they find out that we also do some of the more unusual destinations. So Rwanda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. Every single destination in Africa offers something so different. And so what we want to do at Kuoni is get our team matching your clients with the right destination based on what they’re looking for out of their safari.
Each country offers very different experiences, different wildlife, and is going to appeal to a different kind of safari customer.
Jennifer: That brings us onto our next question. Kuoni offers both small group safari and tailor-made itineraries. Which would you say works best?
Matt: It really depends on the client’s expectations.
So our small group safaris are amazing for most travellers as they really are the greatest hits. They’ve been designed by our team on the ground to show off the best of everything, and they really do offer fantastic value for money. There’s even the opportunity to combine one of our Kenya small group safaris with a small group safari in Tanzania for an even bigger experience.
And our cheetah safari in Kenya is the most wildlife rich tour, and it goes way beyond the big five. You get to see magnificent bird life, a lot of people have gone birding and you even get a visit to a rhino sanctuary. So there’s that little bit of kind of involvement in what the communities are doing to protect the wildlife in that cheetah safari as well.
People hear cheetah safari and they think, “Oh, we’re just going to see cheetahs”, but it’s actually a really rich safari that we offer. The small group safaris are fully inclusive with pretty much all of your meals. You’ve got local guides, all of your park fees, all of your tips are included. So there really is absolutely nothing to worry about.
It’s a ‘from start to finish’ experience, and our small group safaris really are small groups. There’s a maximum of 12 people travelling together. And they are split across two vehicles, maximum of six people in a vehicle. And we only use Jeeps. We don’t use any minibuses. And because there’s only six in a vehicle, it means that everybody gets a window seat.
So you’ve got the best chance of seeing the wildlife, and with our group safaris, because we commit to the space in the hotels, we can book that a little bit further out. So pretty much all of our 2026 safaris are on sale now. And even on those group safaris, it’s not one size fits all, so you can still add in special experiences like hot air balloon rides across the Maasai Mara.
Or you can do a special breakfast where you’re overlooking the planes as the sun comes up, watching all of the animals waking up in the morning. And for clients that are just like, “I don’t really know what I want to do, I just want to go and experience safari, see animals”, they absolutely are going to tick the boxes.
Our tailor-made tours are ideal for those who are looking for something extra special or very specific. If you want a really great experience and you want private safari vehicles – so you’re not sharing with anybody and you want to go to very specific locations – our team can help put that together for you.
Jennifer: Who would you say typically goes on safari? Are there many audience trends?
Matt: Pretty much everybody is a potential safari customer.
We have a lot of honeymooners going out because obviously it is really romantic to sit there and watch the sun come up over the wildlife in Africa. And the safari is a bucket list trip for so many people. But our fastest growing audience for safari holidays at the moment is families.
And based on what we’ve seen happening with more and more families wanting to go on safari, we’ve developed some suggested itineraries that are perfect for families to enjoy our most popular family destinations. It’s a great stealth educational experience because they’re going on holiday, the kids are having a great time, but they’re going to come back learning so much stuff. And there’s different experiences for primary and secondary age children, and some of the safari camps have kids clubs. The kids clubs are run by the locals, learning all about the Maasai tribes, local villagers, learning all about the animals, conservation, environmental issues.
So that’s all put in there, but made fun for kids to enjoy and there’s a lot of safari based activities tailored especially for them.
Jennifer: Tell us why those watching should book their customers with Kuoni.
Matt: It’s that signature core quality and service from start to finish that we’re known for.
Even if you are not a confident safari expert, as long as you sit down, get a great brief from your clients, and understand what their expectations are and what would wow them on the trip, then our destination experts can help suggest the perfect itinerary. A great brief is key.
And if you just call us up and say, “Oh, I’ve got clients that want to go on a safari”… There’s so many different options. It’s going to be difficult for us to suggest something that’s really going to inspire your clients. Once the clients arrive in Africa, the service offering on the ground really is second to none. Your clients have their hands held from the moment that they arrive until the moment that they leave.
We use local guides. We try and put as many authentic experiences in as possible. It’s all about safety, security and that peace of mind. And our Africa sales team really have expertise. All of our itineraries have been tried out by at least one member of our team so they can share first-hand knowledge and experience of what the clients can expect.
Experiencing in the product also enables us to continually refine our itineraries to make sure they’re as good as they can possibly be.
Jennifer: Thank you so much for sharing all of that advice, Matt, and thank you for watching our In The Spotlight video with Kuoni.
