The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Safari Industry
Jeroen is co-owner of SafariBookings.com. His desire to feel connected powers his love of travel. He has traveled all over the world with his wife and two children.
Below are the results of a monthly survey, involving hundreds of safari tour operators, regarding the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Africa’s safari industry. The survey was run by SafariBookings.com for 27 months in a row (from March 2020 to May 2022).
From the start of the pandemic the survey revealed an overwhelming decline in new bookings and large-scale cancellations of existing bookings. This has been a major blow for Africa's US$12.4 billion safari industry [1], the wildlife reserves that rely on its revenue, and the local people employed in the safari industry.
The first significant recovery occurred in October 2021, but only lasted for two months due to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The impact of the Omicron variant was severe but, fortunately, only lasted for a short period. From February 2022 onward a strong and steady recovery has been reported by tour operators.
Our last survey of May 2022 shows that most safari tour operators have experienced a significant recovery, but not all tour operators. Several tour operators are still feeling the impact of the pandemic with the number of bookings they receive still not fully recovered.
Detailed survey results
Survey Background information
[1] Africa's US$12.4 billion Safari Industry
The US$12.4 billion is based on the 2018 international tourism receipts of the major safari countries in East and southern Africa, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Source: https://unwto.org/country-profile-inbound-tourism
The major safari countries included in this US$12.4 billion are: Botswana, Kenya Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The UNTWO did not have data for Zimbabwe. For international tourism receipts per country refer to the UNWTO link above.
The total international tourism receipts for these seven countries was US$15.5 billion. Wildlife-watching tourism makes up 80% of the total trip sales according to this UNWTO research paper from 2015: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1882unwtowildlifepaper.pdf (See page 3, 2nd paragraph.)
Jeroen is co-owner of SafariBookings.com. His desire to feel connected powers his love of travel. He has traveled all over the world with his wife and two children.
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