Expanding frontiers in Africa

This article from News.com.au talks about Africa’s remarkable and awe-inspiring transformation as it opens its doors to tourists from around the world. 
 
From getting up close to gorillas in Rwanda to camping in luxury tents in Kenya, Australians are embracing Africa like never before. Travel to sub-Saharan Africa has risen by more than 200 per cent over the past decade, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, and travel companies are adding more tours to cater for growing demand.

Sunset above the African River

 
Andrew Kelleher, who is product manager for Scenic Tours and Evergreen Tours, says that while backpackers travel on overland trucks in off-the-beaten-track destinations in Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia, older travellers are embracing luxury lodges in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. Kelleher says they prefer longer stays of three nights at each 5-star lodge. "They prefer to travel in July, August or September which is peak time for the Great Migration in Kenya," he says.

Lionesses fighting over prey

Kelleher says there is also growing interest in the luxurious Rovos train trip in South Africa and the Blue Train between Pretoria and Cape Town. Scenic Tours has introduced a six-day itinerary to the Okavango Delta in Botswana next year. "We only put the brochure out a month ago and we already have people booked on it," Kelleher says. "It's expensive but it's top of the tree with everything included from massages to ... safaris and you're in an area where there's no other people."

Travel Directors marketing manager Helen Power says they have introduced more tours to Africa in the past few years because of demand. "Up until three or four years ago we didn't focus that much on Africa but our clients were saying ' ... why don't you do more in Africa?' so we're really ... expanding our product," Power says.

A pack if African Gorillas taking a stroll

 She says the company's most popular tour is the 28-day African Dawn itinerary in January, which includes mountain gorillas in Rwanda, and Uganda and Ethiopia for the Timkat Festival - one of the world's biggest religious festivals. APT introduced Africa to its program in May and is expanding it next year with new lodges and hotels, a new private game reserve and a second itinerary with a three-day Zambezi Queen luxury cruise safari on Botswana's Chobe River. APT sales manager Scott Ellis says travellers are preferring to travel in smaller groups and stretch their trip for up to a month to see as much as they can because they see it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The company is offering a companion-fly-free deal (excluding taxes) from $795, for bookings before December 31, saving up to $2040 a couple.


Source:http://www.news.com.au/travel/holiday-ideas/expanding-frontiers-in-africa/story-e6frfqd9-1226478698473