The travel industry is witnessing a significant shift with an aging yet increasingly active demographic of travelers seeking more than just conventional luxury tours involving a leisurely-paced cruise or train trip.
South Africa's Entrepreneurs Reinvent Tours
03.11.2023 - 22:31 / skift.com / Selene Brophy / Africa
Misguided stereotypes often define inbound tourism to South Africa. Think: “exotic” safaris with , , or themes — and poverty voyeurism.
Yet there’s increasingly a hunger for authentic, respectful experiences. A handful of emerging homegrown players look to feed that need, filling a market gap. But these rising entrepreneurs often find that getting the right marketing and distribution can be challenging.
“The trade needs to educate itself,” said Daniel Adidwa, a tour operator based in South Africa.
Tour2.0, which Adidwa founded in South Africa in 2014, began as a platform to share African travel stories. It quickly became a venture curating experiences in local communities like Soweto and Alexandra in Johannesburg and Richfield near Pretoria.
The company now offers tours across 73 communities in South Africa.
But business is far from back to normal. The current booking volume is 38% of 2019 levels, despite increased trade inquiries for 2024. Most requests have been for private tours.
As his business rebounds, Tour2.0’s approach is centered on understanding customer preferences, leveraging trade relationships, and ensuring the authenticity of the experiences offered.
A post-pandemic challenge for Adidwa’s business has been transitioning from a distribution model relying too heavily on what he called “costly online campaigns” to forging travel trade partnerships with both inbound and outbound operators.
However, Adidwa has also found a distinct knowledge gap among foreign distributors about authentic tourism experiences. That has also been a hurdle to growth.
“Poorism experiences (tours to poor communities or townships) get clouded as authentic,” Adidwa said.
“If being in a community doesn’t unearth what makes a community unique or allows you to get exposed to something very different, something very human that’s surprising — then you’re pushing a stereotype that’s actually counterproductive,” Adidwa said.
Adidwa shared an instance involving developing a Walk, Talk, and Taste Tsitsikamma Tour along the Garden Route’s Tsitsikamma Mountains. Digging into the Khoisan history and cooking, the tour is guided by local artist, author, and historian Stanley Grootboom.
Adidwa explained the process of developing the experience was collaborative from the start, including local chiefs, dancers, and community members.
“Our goal is to highlight what makes each community unique. Inside this environment, granted, it looks like this. But did you know there’s an awesome music band that practices here?” Adidwa said. “This is the lineage. It’s creating stories underneath a community.”
After drafting their itineraries, they are tested internally, refined, and presented to trade partners.
“This multi-tiered
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