Interview with Nick Aslin

INTERVIEW: ANDREW MUSWALA PHOTOGRAPHY: ZAMBIAN GROUND HANDLERS

he safari industry globally has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Andrew Muswala talks to Nick Aslin, owner of Zambian Ground Handlers, about where he sees Zambia’s safari industry moving in the future.

 ZAMBIAN GROUND HANDLERS HAVE NOW BEEN IN EXISTENCE FOR 11 YEARS. CAN YOU TELL ME HOW IT ALL BEGAN? I had been running what was then Norman Carr Safaris since the mid-‘90s but realised that there was a gap in the Zambian market. No one was offering independent and unbiased assistance to the trade, making it easier to drive more business to this wonderful destination.

 WAS THERE ANY COMPETITION WHEN YOU DECIDED TO LAUNCH THE COMPANY? No, not really. I had been offering to book flights and other people’s camps when someone booked our camps and others were doing similar but this was all an attempt to fill one’s own camps first. The industry is a little larger now and I’m no longer the only one packaging Zambia.

 WHAT IS THE KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF ZAMBIAN GROUND HANDLERS? I always believe that a fair and equitable approach to business goes a long way. I am in partnership both with tour operators around the world and with camp owners here in Zambia. Luckily there is room for all of us in the supply chain; we each add value to the travelling public but do not need to increase what they end up paying.

 HOW IMPORTANT IS ZAMBIA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY IN RELATION TO AFRICA’S AS A WHOLE? Zambia remains a lesser-known and seldom-visited destination when compared with the likes of Kenya and Tanzania to the east, or Botswana and South Africa to the south. Those that know the country however, and what it has to offer, understand that Zambia provides what so many people are looking for in their African safari experience: incredible game viewing in unspoiled wilderness conducted in an authentic manner.

 WHAT WAS THE SAFARI LANDSCAPE LIKE IN ZAMBIA DURING THE LAST FIVE YEARS? Getting busier and busier! Over the past couple of decades, the Zambian ‘secret’ has very much been let out of the bag. The more people that travel here, the more they get to hear how wonderful it is. In some areas this has led to complaints of overcrowding but let’s be serious; the largest safari camp in Zambia has 18 rooms and most have just three or four and are in hidden corners of our national parks. We must remain vigilant in order to continue offering first-class experiences but we’re a long way from capacity.

 HOW HAS COVID-19 IMPACTED THE SAFARI INDUSTRY IN ZAMBIA? As with international travel around the globe, it brought it to an immediate halt in mid-March. At the time of writing in September we are seeing a few green shoots; some people will be travelling in the last few months of 2020 and most people that had booked their Zambian safari for 2020 will be travelling in 2021 instead.

One silver lining has been the number of safari camps usually filled with highpaying international guests who have adapted and opened their doors to the local market. Many have offered self-catering rates, enabling Zambian residents to experience the best of our camps in the finest of national parks at affordable prices.

 DID YOU HAVE ANY PLAN TO COMBAT A SITUATION SUCH AS COVID-19? As with most people around the world, we at ZGH were taken somewhat by surprise. I like to think we have adapted over the past six months or more, but I maintain that no one could have predicted in February 2020 what was about to happen to the international travel and tourism industry. It has not been a pleasant ride but I am confident that man’s curiosity and his desire to travel the world will return—and hopefully return in force.

 HOW DO YOU THINK THE INDUSTRY WILL EVOLVE IN THE FUTURE POST COVID-19? Our industry is forever evolving. Covid has certainly thrown us a curve ball but our world is becoming smaller; remote places, once relatively hard to access, are now easier than ever to find. Although long-haul travel itself will worry many people, those same people will be happy enough to find themselves in a small bush camp in a remote corner of Africa with few other people around.

 DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP DOMESTIC TOURISM IN ZAMBIA POST COVID-19? For sure. I hope that those camps that have welcomed resident tourists at reduced rates will have seen the value of their trade. Equally, I hope that this year has given a chance to some that in the past may have looked beyond our borders to realise that our own domestic tourism product is in fact very hard to beat. ■