Defining African luxury is perhaps an impossible task. When Tourism Update bounced this off tourism stakeholders, they responded with the expected platitudes – attention to detail, exceeding expectations, amazing service, exclusivity… all of it attainable by a select few.

But a common point they all made was that luxury is subjective. Henk Graaff, MD of SW Africa Destinations Management, says as luxury means different things to different people, it is incumbent on product owners and service providers to ascertain what the word means to individual clients before recommendations are made and programmes are designed.

For some clients, he expands, luxury is material. “It would be enough to stay in a luxury hotel or lodge where luxury simply means a five- or six-star hotel with spacious and luxurious bedrooms with every conceivable mod con, the best chefs and restaurants and butler service.”

But for others, luxury is about experiences, rather than ‘things’. “Simply put, this luxury is all to do with the experience of natural beauty, knowledge, and humanity at its most meaningful and inspiring best,” says Graaff. Travellers in this category aspire to out-of-the-ordinary encounters that few have the opportunity to access. “They would argue, for example, ‘Why stay in the same luxurious bedroom at your five-star game lodge every night if it would be possible to sleep in a tree-house under the stars on one of the nights?’”

In tandem with this is Chris Anagnostellis, Chief Operations Officer of An African Anthology. “Typically, we all strive for a five-star offering from an accommodation point of view, of which there are numerous, however there are also luxury experiences from activity and hosting points of view that can be leveraged from this definition.”  

He too offers a bush sleep-out as an example of an extraordinary experience – at Kapama, one of the lodges in the African Anthology stable, luxury nights under the stars are offered on an elevated platform with en-suite facilities.

Putting luxury into an African context, Andrew Marshall, Sales Director of Makanyi Private Game Lodge, believes the distinctiveness of the continent is its advantage. “Africa can offer a globally competitive hard-product in the luxury sphere, yet it's uniquely African, in that you can’t replicate the actual experience that you gain on a safari, for example. So, not only can we give travellers a world-class hospitality offering with luxury accommodations, fine cuisine and top-notch service, but also the safari experience that can’t be replicated in the Maldives, California, Barbados, Auckland and elsewhere!”

Examples of luxury service offered by Suzanne Benadie, Sales and Marketing Director at Your Africa, further illustrate the point of uniqueness, such as guests coming back from a safari drive to find a bath has been run for them, or being surprised by a candle-lit bush dinner. 

Angie Karan, Co-founder of Dare to Explore, introduces an allied concept into the discussion – authenticity.   Offering all the comforts, she believes, should not be done at the expense of the real. “Smaller, more exclusive, owner-run and managed properties tend to tick more of the luxury boxes in terms of authenticity, service, food and style. Exclusive-use property offerings also make for wonderful luxury travel.”

“Luxury in an African context for me is defined by challenging the stereotype – providing guests with an experience they never thought possible,” comments Nik Lloyd-Roberts, Commercial Manager of Fedair.  “Having your ranger drop you off at the airstrip where your privately chartered aircraft awaits to transport you back to reality, is something the safari dream was built on. Federal Airlines’ unique and bespoke service allows guests to maximise on what counts – the experience – whilst reducing travel time.”

And lastly, there are those who hold the view that luxury comes with a responsibility. To quote Dirk Jacobs, GM of 21 Nettleton, a boutique hotel in Cape Town: “Due to our many socio-economic struggles, we have an immense duty to ensure that what we offer luxury travellers has a positive impact on our community in an urban scenario, and in the environment when we speak of rural or bush instances.” Travellers are increasingly aware of where their spend goes and how it benefits the continent as a whole, he says.