African Travel Launches New Custom LGBTQ+ Safaris
by Daniel McCarthy
African Travel, Inc., the luxury safari brand from The Travel Corp. (TTC), has launched new, custom safaris exclusively for the LGBTQ+ community.
This week, African Travel unveiled the new safaris, which feature the opportunity to experience the wildlife and culture of Africa and customize the trip with the help of the company’s dedicated safari team.
The company will host the inaugural group in July next year, with groups that include LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, and groups, along with their extended families and their “allies," Sherwin Banda, president of African Travel Inc., said.
Each trip is curated and built with the needs of that group in mind. The sights and sounds of a typical African safari trip include a trip to Cape Town, spotting the Big Five on a game drive, and seeing Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. But what makes these tours different I the dedication to the LGBTQ+ community, with lodges and camps chosen that focus on inclusion and sensitivity.
For Banda, who grew up in Africa and experienced the LGBTQ+’s environment improve first-hand during his own life, introducing the community to African safaris is a personal mission.
"Most people don’t think as Arica as thinking of welcoming or inclusive for the LGBTQ community,” he told TMR at Virtuoso Travel Week earlier this month. “But they don't know that destinations such as South Africa legalized same-sex marriage before the West in 1996.”
“Every one of our team members was either born in Africa, lived in Africa, or traveled to Africa multiple times, so when we say, ‘We Know Africa,’ you can depend on us to match the right Africa with the right client, like LGBTQ+ travelers," he said today.
All tours also include access to African Travel’s 47/7 travel concierge team while traveling. The guide for the tours is available here.