Every day my inbox is inundated with specials. It is quite obvious that the hotels and lodges in Southern Africa are feeling the pinch of the credit crunch.
The irritation for me is that these specials are valid for one month or a particular short period. I don’t think there is much use in that. It feels to me like the lodges and hotels are hedging their bets and will put the prices right back up at the first sign of good occupancies.
Personally I would like to see us going back to the 2008 or even 2007 rates. Over the last few years, tourism to Southern Africa has been booming and the lodges have taken full advantage, putting their prices up by 10-20% each year. That just isn’t reasonable when inflation is sitting around 6%. It is plain greedy.
Yes, it means that I make more money when I sell a safari or honeymoon, but it also means that Southern Africa quickly became an expensive destination. Especially considering that most tourists have to purchase long haul flights to get here.
The good thing about the credit crunch is that the prices have come down (if only through specials), but also that the Rand has weakened against the major currencies. That means that you are paying around 25% less for a safari to South Africa now, than you were a year ago
