Safari lodges are increasingly listing on online travel agencies and booking platforms such as Booking.com and Expedia.
Ross Kata, Area Manager Southern Africa at Expedia, says that for South Africa, lodges make up 18% of the properties, while the platform has seen its inventory of lodges increase by 110% in the past 12 months. Kata says Expedia has seen nearly 100% growth in year-on-year bookings in the Kruger area. “Kruger Park region is now one of our top nodes alongside OR Tambo, Sandton and Cape Town CBD.”
Maria Riga, Global PR Co-ordinator at Booking.com, told Tourism Update she could not share data that would give an indication on how the company was growing, but said the total number of lodges in South Africa listed on the website was 636.
Suppliers listing online have also seen growth in bookings. Robert More, CEO at More, says the group has seen an increase in bookings to More’s safari lodge properties from online platforms.
However, both More and Robert Dixon, Senior Marketing & Digital Manager at Sanctuary Retreats, maintain that tour operators are still crucial to their business because of the nature of their product. “Since our product requires being part of a package and flights to the airstrips it is not something many people will book via an OTA,” says Dixon. According to him, while there’s been growth in bookings through online platforms, the amount of bookings is still small and the majority of the group’s business comes from tour operators.
Neil Bald, MD of aha Hotels and Lodges, says the group has seen an increase in bookings from online platforms, but growth from tour operators surpasses this, adding that the group is reliant on tour operators, particularly in the lodge space.
Lodges have been slower to take to online platforms than hotels because they sell fewer beds. Tourvest Destination Management CEO, Martin Wiest, explains that because lodges have less inventory available and as a result of the constraint of inventory, it is far more complex for lodges to list on online platforms than hotels. Due to this complexity, Wiest does not think it is a good distribution channel for lodges.
While Craig van Rooyen, Director at Tour d'Afrique, points out that many lodges still do not make their inventory available online, he says some lodges have been encouraged to use online platforms to increase profit margins. “The value they have seen by going on to these platforms is that they have been getting more direct business, and thus more profitable to the lodge, as the commission structure is not as large as the tour operator market.”
Van Rooyen believes the bulk of safari bookings will continue to come through the traditional channel because of the knowledge tour operators have. When a client is spending money on an expensive component of his holiday he would prefer to make sure he is provided with all relevant information,” he says, adding that at present OTAs typically don’t inform clients on levies, conservation levies, whether there are Big 5 in the area, the best time of the year to travel and so on.
However, Kata points out that Expedia has adapted its platform for lodges, which is one of the reason for an increase in listings from these suppliers. He says changes special check-in instructions; park fees; and game drives. “By being more lodge friendly more lodges are feeling more comfortable to work with Expedia and we have the ability to display them in a manner that justifies the price in some cases,” he says.
According to suppliers, tour operators need to adapt to compete with these online platforms. “The challenge TOs have going forward is the same challenge all industries have in terms of impact from tech products, for example Uber vs the traditional taxi industry,” says More. He emphasises that tour operators need to have booking systems that connect seamlessly into supplier reservation systems. Dixon also suggests that tour operators need to make sure they offer the best possible service, both offline and online.
Bettina van den Hurk, Interim CEO at Private Safaris, says online platforms have taken some business away from tour operators, but adds that “there will always still be a gap for tour operators who offer personalised, specialised, creative and professional services”. Likewise Chris Anagnostellis, Chief Operations Officer at An African Anthology, says: “I think that your traditional tour operator needs to emphasise the ‘human touch’ in doing business with them.”
Suzanne Bayly-Coupe, MD and owner of Classic Portfolio, suggests that online platforms aren’t a threat to tour operators. “Tour operators have the ability to offer a more personalised, bespoke service to ensure their clients have unique and exceptional experiences. They also add the ‘human’ element, which is a critical factor in a service industry, such as tourism. Crucially, she says tour operators need to differentiate themselves. “They sell experiences, whereas OTAs sell beds.”
However, Bayly-Coupe emphasises the need for rate parity. “While it is essential to be in every channel, it is also imperative to retain rate integrity across all channels,” she says. Wiest says while suppliers need to follow multichannel distribution, suppliers need to honour their commercial agreements with operators.
