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Africa, Responsible Tourism

Experience an Ecotourism Safari Stay at Rhino River Lodge

Shannon Airton is the Owner and Client Relations Manager of Rhino River Lodge in South Africa and helps support the conservation of the land and animals in their game reserve.

Rhino River Lodge is a small lodge located in a privately owned big 5 game reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Shannon is a part of our Travel Massive Durban chapter and recently took part in the The Ultimate Travel Massive South Africa Road Trip

Inspired, we asked Shannon a few questions about how she started the Rhino River Lodge and where the inspiration stems from.

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Is there a unique story of how it came to be?

We fell into the tourism industry when my husband’s family purchased a property inside a private game reserve that had a lodge on it. The business was at that time a hunting lodge, and we wanted to get away from that. We rebranded and focused entirely on ecotourism instead. The Zululand Rhino Reserve, where we are located was formed by a number of private farm owners dropping fences and joining together as part of the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project. 

What inspired you to rebrand with a focus on ecotourism?

So many people in the “private” safari industry are reaching towards becoming more elite, making safari an “exclusive” experience requiring sky high prices that very few locals can afford.

Guess what? Locals want to go on luxury safaris too!

We focus on comfort, customer service, and stellar game viewing and try to do it in a way where we can make the experience a real value for money.

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What makes your lodge different from other similar ones?

One thing we do different is that we have disregarded the star rating system.

Our lodge didn’t really fit into a traditional star rating system, we find the ratings arbitrary and misleading. We like to rely on our guest feedback and ratings on platforms like Trip Advisor. It provides potential guests with so much more relevant information on what to expect during their experience than a star rating ever could.

How do you work with bloggers, vloggers, or the travel industry to amplify your brand?

We have a digital marketing team that coordinates much of our online media. They suggest to us when to host influential people in the travel industry. Additionally we all work really hard to create our own online content, publishing in a number of online blogs, both international and local.

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Is your lodge doing something cool and innovative this year?

We are building a new lodge and another new brand to go along with it. Rhino Sands Safari Camp is breaking ground later in the year in the Zululand Rhino Reserve. In this digital age, we’ve often seen people disconnect with their safari experience, spending time in front of a screen instead of engaged with the environment and people around them. The new camp is harking back to the romantic days of safari. An intimate experience (only 8 guests max) with a focus on connecting with the environment and others. I won’t give too much away now, but we saw something missing from the safari experiences in our area, and we are creating a new brand to fill that gap.

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Travel Brand Features is a monthly series that profiles unique online travel brands in the Travel Massive community around the world. Connect with Shannon and Rhino River Lodge on Travel Massive. 


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