Safari Lodge Marketing: How To Attract More Guests

Since 2001 I have made six holidays to Southern Africa where safari lodges and camps have been a large element or the only element in the holiday.

While the experiences have been excellent, I am surprised at how bad the marketing has been.

So I decided to write this guide -

Safari Lodge Marketing: How To Attract More Guests And Make More Money.

The Basics Of Profitable Marketing

Any business has four main opportunities for marketing and revenue generation:

1. Attracting new customers through your own efforts or representatives
    
   
2. Increasing the transaction value
    
   
3. Encouraging the customers to return
    
   
4. Encouraging the customers to talk about and recommend the business

So let's apply those four ideas to the safari lodges and safari camps in Africa.

Attracting New Customers To Your Safari Lodge

First be clear on what type of guests you want to visit your safari lodge.

Any business makes a mistake if it thinks it can be all things to all possible customers.

I have seen two broad categories of safari lodges:

1. Luxury spas in the wilderness where guests can be pampered, relax and eat very well
    
   
2. Animal adventure camps where the animals are the big attraction  

At the very top end, both may be achieved but I've never been prepared to pay £800 per night per person to find out.

So make sure that your marketing reflects the type of customers you are looking for - and especially your website.

I buy "animal adventures" so when I look at the websites of safari lodges, I expect to see the animals and game viewing as the main focus, then the food and accommodation and finally any relaxation activities.

If I don't, you quickly lose my interest and your safari camp is crossed off my list.

How Potential Guests Become Aware Of Safari Lodges

I become aware of safari lodges in five different ways:

1. From guide books
    
   
2. From my specialist travel agent
    
   
3. From the press holiday supplements and advertorials
    
   
4. From my own Internet searches
    
   
5. From review sites on the Internet like Trip Advisor.

Each is important and you need to be featured to be seen.

Only once have I pushed our travel agent into booking accommodation that they hadn't previously vetted - but I have rejected many safari lodges that failed my other tests.   

So far we have always booked through our agent, the time may be near when we will book independently if we are going back to regions we know.

Increasing Customer Expenditure At Your Safari Lodge

This depends on where you are in the price range.

At the top end, I expect things to be all-inclusive and I resent it when they are not. It does alter my behaviour and spoils the experience.

One safari camp we went to - with a big reputation - just didn't feel like "our kind of place". It turned out that it was all-inclusive but we didn't know. Mind you the service sucked as we turned down the first offer of a drink and were never asked again.

At the bottom end, I prefer the option to pay more to get more.

Simple really but do aim to be consistent with the expectations of your guests.

Can you find really special treats that any guest would be eager to pay for?

If you have a souvenir shop, make sure it is well stocked - and if not, do you have a mail order arrangement to help guests with their souvenirs?

I like looking around Out of Africa in Jo'burg airport but I usually wish I'd been able to get my souvenirs before - and the more personalised the better. It helps to keep the memories fresh and lack of availability has stopped me buying things I wanted.

I'[ve even followed up when I got home, hoping to buy through mail order, only to be greeted with disinterest.

Encouraging Repeat Visits To Your Safari Lodge

First the guests to your safari lodge must have a great time.

In my experience, it is usually such a thrill to get out into the bush and see the game in their natural environment, that it isn't usually a problem.

But I also know that some days, nothing happens.

I remember one three hour game drive in a private reserve and we saw a group of impala three minutes away from the safari lodge, one male lion being hounded by five Land Cruisers and nothing else all night.

I know people who have spent all day in a South African National Park - and not seen anything.

It happens so try to have some standby to offer your guests in these quiet periods.

They want to see the animals but they also want to learn about the animals, so provide educational videos and talks. Tell animal stories.

You aim is to give them such a good time that they want to return.

Take their details and keep in contact.

Write a thank you for the visit letter and send it to them with a few of your best photographs of your animals.

It helps to stir the memories.

Take their email address and create an email newsletter. Let them know what is happening at your safari lodge and with the animals. The more guests feel connected to your safari lodge, the more likely they will return rather than find a new place.

If you make a fuss of capturing the birthdays as one lodge did with us, be very clear that you are creating an implied promise. We expected something to happen, either by email or letter so when nothing did, we felt slighted. It is much worse than not doing anything from the start. Again all it would have taken was a happy birthday email and a few nice photos.

If you have quiet periods - either because of the seasons or because of an international crisis - our first trip to South Africa was a few days after September 11th, 2001 and the attack on New York World Trade Center - then make offers to your past guests.

Four nights for the price of three or something similar. I suspect that a lot of people are like me, and just looking for an excuse to get back out into the bush.

Encourage Customer Referrals To Your Safari Lodge

First you have to earn the right to referrals so you have to give people a great time.

Some guests will see it as a "once in a lifetime" experience - perhaps because of limited budgets and perhaps because of all the other exciting things to do in the world.

You may not be able to entice them back but you may be able to get a great referral to their friends.

Others like me will be delighted to return and to refer anyone I talk to about safaris.

Make sure your guests have something to talk about when they get back - it can be the great photographs again or your videos posted to YouTube.

The more they have to show, the better and wearing your branded fleece, shirt or hat can start conversations about your safari lodge.

Your newsletters which explain what's going on and what game is being seen, can be forwarded on to people they have told about your lodge - especially with a little reminder at the bottom to forward to anyone they know who is interested in going on a safari holiday.

Can you create an incentive for the person making the referral and the person being referred?

Depending on your price positioning and policy towards charging for extras, a voucher for a free bottle of wine for each person referred or money to be spent in your gift shop is a nice thank you and could tip the balance between returning to your safari lodge and visiting another.

There is much that can be done to improve the marketing of your safari lodge.

What Do You Think About My Safari Lodge Marketing Tips?

If you own or manage a safari lodge, I will be very interested to read what you think about my ideas.

If you are a visitor to safari lodges, do you agree with me?

What helps you to decide which safari lodge to visit? What determines whether you return?