You’re in good hands: travel safely and securely with Asilia

The global coronavirus pandemic has left a dramatic mark across the travel industry, with travel more or less coming to a complete halt as the world navigates an unprecedented crisis.

For many years, Asilia Africa’s 19 safari lodges in Kenya and Tanzania have been giving tourists a unique stay and insight into the wildlife and people of East Africa. When the pandemic hit, tourists stopped arriving because of COVID-19, with serious consequences for our company, our employees and guests, and for the funding of our Positive Impact projects.

It is in this context that we are pleased to announce that Asilia has secured a medium-term financial backing from the two Scandinavian DFIs — Norfund, IFU and other private investors — to enable the company to effectively navigate through COVID-19. We have planned our company finances with a conservative approach on the expectation that the current crisis will affect our industry well into 2021, even though we are hopeful that meaningful recovery begins before then.

“Sustainable African companies, such as Asilia, need stable, long-term funding now to overcome this crisis and to ensure that the positive economic and social development we have seen the last 20 years is not lost,” Tellef Thorleifsson, CEO Norfund, said.  

“Asilia is a very professional and well-managed safari operator with a high degree of social responsibility and a sustainable approach to tourism, which is in line with IFU’s aim to creating high impact when investing in private businesses. Our goal is to assist Asilia in emerging even stronger after the crisis enabling them to further extend their positive impact,” said Emil Sierczynski, Senior Investment Manager, IFU.

At Asilia, we have taken several steps to firm up our multi-year financial planning, including a solid buffer to get through a prolonged period of reduced travel — meaning you book your future travel with Asilia with confidence. As an acclaimed impact company, we count ourselves fortunate to have the financial backing of reputed long-term institutional investors from stable economies like Scandinavia. We notice that this offers a level of comfort to our guests and trade partners in booking trips through us during the current crisis.

“We are grateful for the support of Norfund and IFU as we continue to navigate the unprecedented effects COVID-19 has left on the safari and tourism industries. It is with thanks to them, our committed staff and our partners that we are ready to play our part in the recovery and development of our industry beyond the negative effects of the virus,” said Jeroen Harderwijk, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Asilia.

As destinations gear up again to welcome tourists, we are also planning on a slow-but-steady path back to travel, particularly as our type of travel — small-scale, outdoors, sunny and airy — is more suitable than other types of leisure travel at this time. Asilia has since put together transparent COVID-19 protocols for guests and staff returning to camp and flexible cancellation policies.

As you begin to think about travelling again, guests can book with confidence that Asilia will be there to make your trip as safe, secure and comfortable as possible. Enquire today.