With travellers seeking immersive experiences, many hotels chains have seen the wisdom of adding these experiences to their offerings, making a stay far more than just a room and restaurant. 

“Where the market is now, you have to stand out in the clutter with unique experiences being the way to go,” says Ivana Naidoo, Regional Marketing and Communications Manager – Africa, for Minor Hotels.

Minor offers options such as Dining by Design, where a fine-dining meal is served to guests in a choice of dream settings, served by a private chef and butler.  This could be on the spa deck at Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort, on the banks of the Zambezi at the Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Zambia by Anantara, or on the island of Quissanga, just off Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort.

Minor Hotel guests can also join hotel chefs as they shop in local markets, or take lessons in local cuisine their kitchens.  They can fish for their supper, and enjoy it at their own seafood braai on the beach. They can sleep under the stars on a four-poster bed or dine on a steam train on the Victoria Falls Bridge, overlooking one of the world’s wonders. At the Mozambique resorts, they can learn how to sail a dhow – working ropes, checking wind direction and controlling sails.

Says Charmain Beukes, Marketing Manager for White Shark Projects: “Hotels, particularly, have had to change and become portals into the community, introducing their guests to authentic local experiences – basically being their trusted guide.

“This is where the role of the concierge has had to step up; concierges are now specialising in meeting their guests’ needs and wants, by pre-booking their activities even before they have arrived and providing great, seamless connectivity to the local experiences that these experiential travellers seek. Guesthouses have a favourable position here, as many are owner-managed and guests can interact with them and get first-hand knowledge of the area; this is a great marketing tool that guesthouses should utilise.”

White Shark Projects, too, has upgraded its product, which can offer hard adventure for cage divers and soft adventure for those who prefer to stay on the boat and view sharks from above. “We have more and more requests for personal interviews with our marine biologist or crew after the excursion, and our volunteer programme has also grown in recent years – it’s no longer just the people taking gap years that join, but rather mid-life career people who take a break from life to experience an area,” says Beukes. The operator’s marketing approach has also changed and is now based on ‘telling stories’, highlighting experiences.

At Kwandwe Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, the guide complement is being increased to improve the experiential aspect of a stay.  Says Saskia Brown, Sales and Marketing Manager: “Not all guests may wish to participate in every game drive. By having additional rangers available, we are able to tailor-make specific requests for guests wanting to go birding on foot instead, or fishing, or big game walking.”

Brown also markets Camdeboo Private Game Reserve, where the Mount Camdeboo Conservation Experience was launched some time ago, enabling volunteers to join the reserve’s team of conservationists as they go about their work.

In Durban, the city, trade and Chamber of Commerce “are talking with one voice,” says Public Relations Officer for Durban Tourism, Mayasree Moodley. “The city shares its tourism intelligence with the trade to ensure that they are adapting to all types of tourists’ needs.  Most of the concierge staff are well informed about local tour options and sometimes go on fam trips to orientate themselves on the various tours offered in the city. It would be nice to see tour operators being based at the hotels or more visible in high tourism areas,” she says.

In keeping with the need for new products and experiences, Moodley reports that Durban Tourism has introduced the Visitor Marketing strategy, focusing on townships and other niche attractions.  The Durban Green Hub specialises in eco-tourism and green tourism, such as hiring out bicycles for exploring certain areas of the city.

Tour operators are also doing their bit to court experiential travellers.  Some months ago, Welcome Tourism Services compiled a brochure dedicated to experiential travel, and many of its promotional campaigns are centred on experiences. Your Africa recently partnered with Tour2.0, a company specialising in experiential excursions countrywide. According to Sales and Marketing Director Suzanne Benadie, some of the unique products it offers include a graffiti tour of Johannesburg’s inner city, an African survival course in Addo in the Eastern Cape, and experiencing some unusual attractions in Clarens in the Free State.