Wilderness re-brands, launches new products

Brian Benza
Staff Writer | Monday May 16, 2011 00:00

After 26 years as an active player in safaris in Southern Africa, the company says it has developed a branded house, to bring together the family of Wilderness brands in a vibrant and visual way. The re-branding comes at a time when the company is launching two brand new safari destinations.

Through their travel divisions - Wilderness Safaris, Wilderness Adventures, Wilderness Explorations and Wilderness Air - they operate a portfolio of some 70 lodges, camps and safaris in seven southern African countries viz Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Seychelles.

Over the past six months, Wilderness has rolled out a number of new brands and essentially re-organised its business in a way that makes the unique features of each of the different elements of the company much clearer and allows them to focus on their core purpose. As such, the parent or group brand previously called 'Wilderness Safaris' is now simply 'Wilderness'. The tag line 'for the long run' pays homage to the company's roots in sustainability as well as commitment to partners. Associated with this parent brand are two well-known non-profit entities, Wilderness Wildlife Trust; and Children in the Wilderness.

Following the recent signing of the operating and marketing contracts for two of Africa's most iconic destinations, North Island in the Seychelles and Abu Camp in Botswana's Okavango Delta, Wilderness says it is excited to launch a new brand in its stable, Wilderness Collection. The company says that this new brand will provide a home for a carefully selected portfolio of progressive and innovative programmes in iconic African destinations and will build on the success enjoyed by North Island and Abu Camp over the past decade.

The newest addition, the Wilderness Collection, is where most of Wilderness hype and excitement revolve. CEO Andy Payne has announced the acquisition of camps in two brand new destinations never before included in the Wilderness portfolio in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Segera on the Laikipia Plateau in Kenya and Odzala in the virgin rainforest of Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) are due to open in early 2012.

Wilderness will announce its results for the year ended 28 February 2011 at the end of this month. The company says Segera in Kenya will aim to create a self-sustaining, responsible conservation model that preserves a part of Kenya's natural heritage, benefits the local population, enhances eco-tourism and promotes other eco-ventures and awareness of conservation issues. 'Odzala in the Congo will use responsible low-land gorilla-orientated tourism as a catalyst to spread the rainforest conservation message both globally and locally. 'These new developments emphasise that Wilderness continue to grow from strength to strength as they invest in new tourism product and introduce new destinations,' the company says. Wilderness is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Africa Board. Last year, it posted a profit of P48 million in its maiden results as a listed company for the year ending February 28, 2010.