African safaris are no longer about hunting big game or having a camera-toting trip guided by safari rangers. Most enthusiastic travellers include an African safari on their bucket lists. Unquestionably, the nation is a mecca for all things wild and is home to some of the most incredible and endangered animals on the planet. These jungle excursions provide once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities. Asserting her vast expertise in travel and tourist management, Kirsty Gordon, CEO of Anywhere in Africa Safaris, manages all aspects of the client’s trip, in order to provide a seamless travel experience.
Journey to the destination
After graduating from high school, Kirsty pursued a career in travel after taking a marketing and travel and tourism course. She started working at a travel agency during this time period, handling corporate flight travel, and then she was moved within to the company’s incentive business, managing corporate incentive trips for groups of 40 to 180 individuals. She planned one of the first online travel agencies when she was 29 years old, specialising in domestic travel within Africa. During this time, she twice a year sent a camper to Botswana, and on one of these excursions, she noticed a need to get customers from the USA market to join “Glam Camping” tours, which were upscale, exclusive, and luxurious.
After managing these excursions for a while, Kirsty sold both businesses to pursue her Olympic dream and her desire to ride for South Africa in 3-Day Eventing. She was in the UK from 2006 until the end of 2008 with an amazing sponsor. Sadly, a horseback riding accident and slipped discs in her back prevented her from realising her Olympic ambition. Kirsty moved back to South Africa at the end of 2008 and made the decision to create Anywhere in Africa Safaris, a high-end boutique travel agency that primarily targets Americans travelling to Africa.
Inspiration to embark on “Anywhere in Africa Safaris”
Kirsty has over 30 years of experience in the travel industry, has visited the majority of the African nations, and—most importantly—wants to work with the clients to help them plan their trip. She adores the continent of Africa for its unending beauty, incredible animals, great, genuine people, and “out of the box” adventures that can change one’s life. She believes that some customers preferred to deal with a business that was established in Africa, operated routes there, and who they could personally contact to arrange their “once in a lifetime vacation to Africa.”
She desired a small business that put the needs of the customers first rather than simply making bookings without consideration or care. As a result, she placed a strong emphasis on customer care, first-rate service, attention to detail, and expertise in Africa. Anywhere in Africa Safaris was founded as a result of her passion for Africa and personal experience.
Kirsty proclaims, “Anywhere in Africa Safaris has been one of the best decisions I have made and created!”
Overcoming Challenges
Service, attention to detail, and trustworthiness are very important in this new post-COVID era. And it all makes a company stand out above the competition. Anywhere in Africa Safaris are available around the clock and in real time for African travellers to ensure that everything goes as planned, from PCR testing to customers who need to be taken to hospitals for emergency surgeries to making changes to the various lockdowns and travel restrictions.
To ensure that all of the clients’ demands are met and that budgets and timelines are adhered to, it is crucial for the staff and for Kirsty to have a thorough understanding of the clients’ expectations and wish lists. Being an independent business, the company takes pride in hand-selecting the partners and vendors across Africa.
Her Concern Defines Success.
It is crucial that Anywhere in Africa Safaris continues to develop novel concepts for tourists that are also workable in order to simplify and streamline clients’ travel arrangements. The company is concentrating on and observing trends in the areas of improving travel experiences as customers plan their vacations for 2022 and 2023. Customers are looking for undiscovered treasures, ideal locations, and chances for outdoor pursuits like walking safaris, photography, kayaking, and adventures!
Kirsty thinks her concern for the clients shows in the meticulous planning she does for their visits to Africa and in the fact that she regularly checks in with them while they are there to make sure everything is going well. The two main values are communication and detail-orientedness. Anywhere in Africa Safaris provides its clients with more than just a way to get from point A to point B; from the moment they first get in touch with the company until they return from their trip, the company serves as a source of guidance and support.
Transparent Communication in a Team
As a CEO, Kirsty is assured that her staff members are accountable and direct in their communications. Open communication is essential in the workplace. Your team will feel more cohesive, successful, and productive as a result, which is mutually advantageous. She believes it is crucial for a team to work together and communicate well in order to meet the expectations of clients who continue to believe in them and invest in them. Making judgments in a travel agency requires both teamwork and individual effort; certain decisions must be made individually, while others must be made in a team setting.
Individual decisions might involve handling a client’s inquiry about a trip to Africa as the consultant, but on the other hand, this might involve a team discussion to come up with suggestions that would match the client’s requirements in terms of their brief, budget, timeline, and wish list. You must maintain open lines of communication while also providing your workers with an opportunity to shine in developing concepts or procedures that the business could use.
Effective Routine
Kirsty is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the company, including responding to customer inquiries, updating reservations, checking incoming funds and outgoing payments to suppliers, ensuring that the social media and website teams are on schedule, ensuring that the accountant has everything they need to process tax and vat efficiently, and ensuring that the rates for 2022 and 2023 are updated appropriately by the suppliers so that company can quickly produce the costings. Kirsty looks forward to going to work every day and seeing confirmed reservations and content customers. She believes that any issue must be resolved immediately and effectively. “It isn’t the problem, but how quickly we can sort out the problem or situation, so we can move forward effectively and efficiently,” she reminds her employees and vendors.
Advice for new leaders
Because it’s hard to achieve team goals without setting expectations, which in turn leads to clear individual contributions, proper communication, increased productivity and outcomes, and excellent manners, Kirsty urges new leaders to motivate their team members. In addition to suggesting the optimal assignment, Kirsty advised taking into account each team member’s strengths and capabilities. According to Kirsty, leaders should devote effort to applying the 80/20 rule in order to increase value and obtain a financial success.
“Don’t try and be a jack of all trades, be a master of one and delegate“- says Kirsty.
A Futuristic Vision
High-level personal service, professionalism, attention to detail, trust, care, flexibility, life-changing activities, and creativity are what Kirsty focuses on and values. These activities can be anything from exhilarating game drives to intimate weddings on private islands to gorilla trekking. For Kirsty, it is crucial that Anywhere in Africa Safaris maintains its personalised service and avoids growing too large to the point when the customers suffer or wind up being treated like a number in the system to fund the growing business.
Anywhere in Africa Safaris’ clientele, who rely on the expertise and ethics, will determine the company’s future, therefore it must keep providing them with outstanding customer service, in-depth knowledge, and unique travel opportunities to encourage them to return and recommend to others.
Kirsty’s long-term objective for Anywhere in Africa Safaris is to be the first company that comes to mind when people think of Africa, who to contact for assistance with trip planning, who is reliable, who offers the best service, and who has the most knowledge. Building a strong brand now will be crucial in the future ahead.
