Travel is in danger of becoming ‘elitist’ because of the rising cost of tourist fees in destinations, according to an Aito specialist operator to Africa.
Africa Collection co-founder and director James Westrip told a panel debate at the launch of The Specialist Travel Association (Aito) Travel Insights report in London that soaring fees for tourists to see animals in the wild meant certain trips were becoming beyond the reach of many holidaymakers.
“My concern is that it will become elitist and I don’t believe that’s what travel should be,” he said, adding: “You already restrict locals from going into the national parks. We have to be careful to strike the correct balance between tourism and conservation concerns, with the knock-on effect of precluding some potential customers due to price.”
He gave examples of park entry fees for Kenya’s Masai Mara doubling to US $200 per person, per day for non residents, and tourists being charged $US1,500 per person, per day to see gorillas in the wild in Rwanda.
Other operators cited the five Euros daily tax introduced for Venice last year as an example of an extra cost for tourists.
But Ted Wake, managing director of short breaks operator Kirker Holidays, insisted: “Travel has always been elitist. We have to be realistic; if you don’t restrict tourists to Venice then Venice won’t be there like it has been for the last 200 years.”
Sara Zimmerman, non executive director of escorted tours operator Travel Department, suggested the Venice tax would not put off clients who had their hearts set on visiting but noted demand was rising for less well-known areas.
“If you have not been to Venice you want to go, but what we are seeing is people are interested in exciting, off the beaten track places,” she said, adding: “Puglio in Italy is growing at a faster rate than Rome for example so it’s [a case of] finding places people have not been to that are accessible and have cultural highlights.”