nyama

One reason for the rate increases at Selinda is certainly the stop of hunting at Motswiri. To keep the income balance equal photo clients now must pay for all the hunting quotas that are no longer sold.

Does anybody know if Kwando Safaris have re-newable leases? Then it wouldn't be a big question at all. Whatsoever, Kwando Safaris is Botswanan owned, the owner also has some influence, and I don't expect much suprises here.

afrigalah

nyama,

Obviously that's a big reason for the hike in rates at Selinda. The purchase price would have played almost no role. Would you agree another important reason is the deliberate (rather than coincidental) targeting of a different kind of clientele? There seems no reason otherwise for the bizarre upgrading of Zibadianja.

John

nyama

John -- Without the money from the hunting quotas you have to upgrade, and that automatically means targeting at a slightly different client market. Maybe they thought if they already had to upgrade, why not doing a "double-upgrade"? But I'm still thinking that the hunting stop is the initial and most important reason.

However with all the latest developments in global economy I wonder if their new client market isn't becoming a little too thin...

afrigalah

nyama,

I imagine the thinner the market, the more exclusive the price, and there will always be people who can afford to pay and don't mind showing it.

John

HariS

John,

I tend to agree with you. Even on these forums, haven't we heard the frequent parroting of itineraries by travel agents like three nights land delta camp, three nights delta water camp, three nights Linyanti/Selinda. Imagine some newbie traveller going on their first safari to a place like Vumbura Plains and then transferring onto Zibalianja??? The size of the tent at Zib is perhaps the size of the bathroom or maybe just the shower area of Vumbura Plains???

I also firmly believe the current Botswana is targetting the single time Botswana clientale ....... oh, let's not forget the collapsing dollar

Hari

almac

When visiting Zib.in Sept I queried the steep price increase for 2008, and was advised that this was to compensate for the loss of hunting revenue from Motswiri

HariS

What does not make sense is the bizarre current game drive practices - granted price hike, ultra-luxury accomodations etc etc., what would give them the impression that guests do not want to be disturbed during the siesta hour? i am ofcourse talking about the bizarre airstrip faux pas RE the cheetah boys!

They clearly do not recognize their guests and why they are on safari .... most of all, they do not know their own clientele.

The above example just sets up lazy guiding and hence makes the whole experience pretty much a waste of one's time and money. Their senior guides will soon lose motivation when they realize that their newbie client is more interested in spending time indoors .....

As other's have noted from recent visits ....... the gameviewing is pretty much up and down in recent times! and far away from being consistent.

sniktawk

Has anyone any idea as to why this posting has lead to this?

Does anybody actually believe that the spread of Wilderness has brought any benefit to holiday makers other than greater luxury at greater prices?

nyama

- They offer very good destination services (ground handling) to TAs, even if you don't book a single WS camp. Most travelers are not aware of this.
- They offer good management services for places that don't appear on the WS website (Palmwag, Lufupa, Heuglins). And don't forget all the camps leased to OAT but still run by WS.
- They offer a very good and expanding range of less expensive mobile safaris.
- The announcement of Safari Adventure Company sounds very promising for the less expensive, more rustic market. (Sign of the times?)

I'm not a fan of their main product line, and I don't like their market dominance in some areas, but I can't say that there isn't any benefit other than luxury...