African ecotourism and conservation brand, Singita, is honing in on a number of new locations in Southern Africa to expand its ultra-luxury footprint and plug gaps for the brand’s ‘super safari’ offering.

Singita’s current stable comprises 15 properties spread across four geographical locations: South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

On the topic of growth plans, Jo Bailes, Chief Operating Officer told LATTE at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas that Singita has “a few projects in the pipeline at the moment”.

Bailes said Africa has two primary circuits that visitors tend to traverse when on the Mother Continent – the East African and Southern Africa.

“At the moment, our Southern Africa circuit has gaps where we don’t have properties currently, so our immediate growth plan is to fulfill those gaps so a guest can do a Singita exclusive itinerary instead of switching to another property where we don’t have lodges,” Bailes explained.

“Our golden rule of growth and expansion is that we would never do something that isn’t as good or better than our existing portfolio.

“Our growth is slow and strategic. We do it because we know that once someone has stayed at a Singita property if it isn’t of the right quality or standards, it will destroy the brand in their mind. We are so careful of that,” Bailes told LATTE last week at the luxury travel exhibition.

Bailes added that Singita also had a few gaps in its East African circuit it would like to plug.

Crucial to any growth will be the feeling of “exclusivity”, be it in the wilderness or the experience itself.

“In a lot of national parks and private parks, exclusivity as a notion, has changed. You go on a game drive and you see all these other vehicles and you don’t feel like you’re alone in Africa anymore and for us, that feeling of being alone is also part of our growth strategy.”

“We want to find iconic destinations that are large enough that people have the experience of feeling alone in a beautiful, untouched wilderness area.”

Bailes said Singita would favour rebuild and “major renovations”, indicating the ultra-luxury safari brand would lean towards acquisitions over new build.

“I think it will be either untouched wilderness or there might be an existing property that we take over and we will completely redesign it in a way that makes it ‘Singita’,” he disclosed. Bailes added that Singita would focus on camps and tents over bricks-and-mortar projects.

“We feel that the entire future safari is going lighter, more in touch with wilderness, so it’s moving more towards that tented safari. But not fully tented. It will be a hybrid of both,” he confirmed.

Post-COVID ‘slow safari’

Since the pandemic, Singita has witnessed a significant trend in booking behaviour of guests. Whereas pre-pandemic the average length of stay was three or four nights, now it is around a week.

“We have seen an amazing shift in that average length of stay from three nights to about seven nights,” Bailes said.

“People are spending a lot more time at a property. The other thing that has changed is that people used to love having a ‘super safari’, going from one property to the next to the next, and ticking it off their bucket list, saying we did Botswana, we did the Sabi Sands, and we did Tanzania.”

“We’ve realised the challenges around travelling and the requirement of getting COVID tested, that people have changed that whole philosophy, and what has resulted is a term that we like to use is a ‘slow safari’,” Bailes said.

“All of a sudden people are taking more time at one property to thoroughly enjoy it.”

Bailes used an example of game drives. In the past guests would love spotting wildlife and ticking that off their list.

“Now, we are encouraging guests to slow down. Get out of the vehicle, walk, put your feet in the river, look at all the small things, stop, turn off the lights and look at the stars.”

He said guests are embracing a holistic wellness approach as well when they stay longer.

“They are connecting with nature, connecting with the local people, connecting to the food and the beverages they are served.

For more on Singita, see singita.com/