Wilderness Safaris banks on lessons learnt as Omicron looms :: Mmegi Online

The country’s largest tourism group, Wilderness Safaris, says no cancellations have yet been recorded as a result of the Omicron variant, as clients adopt a wait and see attitude. While the new strain has triggered memories of the disaster that unfolded last year when COVID-19 first hit, the industry is better prepared this time. Staff Writer, MBONGENI MGUNI explains why

Derek de la Harpe, Wilderness Holdings’ commercial director, remembers how the business believed it could withstand the impact of the pandemic when COVID-19 first arrived in Botswana last March. While various sectors of the economy knew that lockdowns and other restrictions would likely follow, each tried to gauge exactly what the specific impact on their own operations would be.

“We believed that the business lent itself well to operating in the situation of a lockdown because it is about low numbers of people and activities are mostly outdoors,” he says.

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