Holiday in Africa – Information for travellers

Covid-19 poses new challenges to holidaymakers and those who organize travelling. Tour Operators, airlines and most of all the local people in Africa do everything they can to guarantee a safe stay for their guests: This has been the case in the past and continues to be especially now in times of social-distancing.

VOICE4AFRICA intends to provide transparent information. The platform offers inspiration for a trip to Africa and supports future Africa travelers when preparing their holiday. A further aim is promoting differentiated travel advice that takes into account the overall precautionary measures.

Our partners are ready

Even if it is only a slow start, but it’s starting again and the first guests are allowed to travel to Africa! Africa like 50 years ago, a vast nature and little tourism.

Michael Merbeck,
Managing Director Abendsonne Africa

National parks and game reserves are financed between 70-100% by tourism revenues and national park fees. Appropriate hygiene protocols for the ‘new age of travelling’ have long been introduced and ‘social distancing’ and distance are implemented in game areas and small safari accommodations in an exemplary way.

Ellen Spielberger,
Managing Director Bush Legends

We received an email from our friends in Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya with an endless number of smileys and hearts saying: We are open, you can come back to us. With our sophisticated health concept, we are able to respond to everything that we do not know yet.

Ingo Lies,
Managing Director Chamäleon Reisen

Every day that we have to spend in Germany and are not allowed to travel to Africa, the longing to finally be able to experience this incredibly beautiful region of the world with our own senses grows increases more and more… We can not wait to experience… AFRICA – instead of only our dreams!

Jörg Ehrlich,
Managing Director DIAMIR Erlebnisreisen

We miss the warm hospitality and friendliness of the people as well as the untouched nature. And for the local people, the consequences are devastating if no international tourists, guests and friends cannot be welcomed.

Caspar Venter,
Managing Director VENTER TOURS

On which continent do we have such a diversity of species in the national parks, a wealth of great culture thousands of years old, tribal life which is authentically preserved into the 21st century, hospitality which stands for friendliness? And that with a mostly first-class infrastructure.

Elisabeth Kneissl-Neumayer,
Managing Director Kneissl Touristik

There is probably no better time than now to discover the untouched nature and the animal diversity of East Africa undisturbed. All service providers on site make an extraordinary effort to ensure the safety of the guests. The generous spatial conditions on site allow the implementation in a friendly and sympathetic way.

Marcel Gehring,
Managing Director Let´s Go Tours

We are happy about every trip to Africa that can take place again. The local people need tourism and their efforts for a safe stay of the travelers deserve our respect. Everyone should get to know this wonderful continent with its warm hospitality and the diverse wildlife.

Hanna Kleber,
Initiator of the Task Force VOICE4AFRICA

Travelling to Africa in times of Covid-19

Vastness, vastness, vastness – Africa has what is demanded particularly in times of Covid-19. The continent offers guests space in abundance. Wilderness and breathtaking nature give the second largest continent in the world a diverse facet. Before the outbreack of Covid-19, landscape, people and wildlife sparked enthusiasm and ensured a livelihood for the locals. People and animals in Africa will continue to rely on foreign guests in the future!

Recently, tourism has been booming on the black continent. In 2018, Africa received about 67 million international tourist arrivals ➝ (Source: Deutsche Welle). In South Africa alone, more than 700,000 people work in tourism, in Uganda it is only slightly less. Looking at the entire continent of Africa, many people are employed in tourism or their jobs are indirectly related to it. If tourists stay away, the livelihood of numerous locals and businesses is threatened. A social system that caters for these people does only exist in very few African countries. From the operator of a lodge to the greengrocer, many people in Africa depend heavily on the income from tourism.

In many parts of the world, tourism secures the livelihood of the locals. In third world countries and emerging markets, the situation is particularly precarious when international guests are absent. This is what is currently happening in African national parks and game reserves, for example: They are 70 to 100 per cent financed by income from tourism and national park fees. If these funds are dropped due to a lack of tourism, many national parks will not have the means available to protect animals from poachers. Hotel owners, excursion entrepreneurs and employees from the catering trade are equally affected. The supply chains are long and interdependent; for African tourist businesses, no demand implies the end of their business faster than in Europe.

Current holiday-situation in Africa (status 28.08.2020)

The Federal Foreign Office updates the travel information for countries worldwide on a daily basis ➝ Until 14th September 2020, a travel warning will be in effect for more than 160 countries worldwide (Source: German Foreign Office)

In addition, the Robert Koch Institute in Germany classifies countries into risk areas where there is an increased risk of infection with Covid-19➝.

Both sources of information are important in order to assess own travel plans, possible quarantine restrictions as well as obligatory Covid-19 tests when re-entering Germany and to conclude foreign travel health insurance policies. Taking a look at the websites of the tourist offices and specific enquiries with the tour operators is helpful to gauge the situation on site. Neither the classification as a risk area nor an imposed travel warning equal a travel ban.

About Voice4Africa

Voice4Africa is an initiative of the PR and communications agency KPRN network. For more than 26 years the agency has been representing countries, airlines and tour operators – many of them from Africa. Some friendships have developed over the decades and tourism in the country has been successfully promoted. Now it is a matter of the heart to support the local people and to bundle all forces of those responsible for tourism in Africa. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland these include mainly medium-sized specialist tour operators. They are often committed to sustainable tourism in Africa and know the local partners personally.

However, Voice4Africa sees itself primarily as a network of media, embassies, airlines, tour operators, tourism boards and associations. The current entry restrictions due to Covid-19 will continue to determine tourist arrivals for quite some time. That is why in times of „dream now, travel later“, it is even more important to keep the attention high on Africa.

Our Partners to travel to Africa