Speakers at the SATSA 2025 Conference highlighted challenges and opportunities in achieving regional geographic spread in Africa’s tourism sector.
At the session ‘We Are Not Alone: Geographical Spread in a Regional Context’ moderated by Africa’s Eden CEO Jillian Blackbeard, industry leaders raised the topics of overtourism, seasonality and the need for dispersal of travellers across multiple destinations.
Photographs of congestion in Tanzania’s Serengeti were cited as a “wake-up call” but not a reflection of the park as a whole. “There’s one photograph of one crossing point at one moment in time,” said Mark Gillies, Business Development Manager at Asilia Africa. He emphasised that the Serengeti had great areas to explore and opportunities outside peak migration months.
Extending travel seasons was presented as a solution. “The only way to fix overtourism andoverutilisation of resources is to position it differently and broaden your seasonality,” said Martin Wiest, CEO of Tourvest. He criticised terminology such as “green season” or “winter specials” for devaluing off-peak travel, arguing instead for highlighting unique experiences at quieter times.
John Gibson, Executive Director of Chobe Holdings, observedthat, in Botswana, the Okavango season had successfully expanded beyond traditional peaks, enabling year-round operations. “It allows us to give people meaningful jobs over a 12-month period, and develop tourism across Botswana so that more people can benefit from tourism.”
Multi-country itineraries were also seen as key to dispersal. “If you have that core product, like the Delta, then you’re able to expand outside of the country, into the panhandle,” moderator Blackbeard said. Chris Roche, Co-Founder and Marketing Director of Wild Expeditions Africa, added that anchor destinations such as Victoria Falls could serve as “a fulcrum around which to disperse that traffic”.
However, barriers remain. Speakers pointed to border complexity, shortened average stays and loss of experienced travel specialists after COVID-19.
“The outbound wholesaler, the outbound retailer and the inbound wholesaler have lost a lot of feathers during COVID. It is taking an enormous amount of time, if ever possible, to replenish that,” said Wiest. He called for renewed investment in trade education through in-person familiarisation trips.
Technology and AI were identified as potential tools to broaden distribution. Wiest said AI-driven search would create “a far more transparent marketplace” and support multi-country itineraries. Yet he cautioned that the short duration of trips, now averaging 11 nights compared twith 24 in the 1980s, complicated dispersal.
The panel concluded that, while overtourism images often dominated, the larger challenge was achieving balanced growth. “Stop looking at the numbers, let’s look at quality,” said Blackbeard. I’m not at all sure what she means here.
