Big money floods into SA’S game reserves
ALL of a sudden there is a glut of money flowing into the gamefarm business.
A fewweeks after it emerged that the government intended to buy the 5-star Mala Mala game reserve, four Dutch families bought a safari lodge in Limpopo for R200-million.
But it’s not because they plan to make a quick return on it.
According to the MORE group, which will take over the management of the 23 000ha Marataba Lodge from today, the anonymous Dutch families are buying it ‘‘for the love of it”, and to develop the domestic luxury safari market and conserve the area.
Robert More, CEO of MORE Group, said that while there was great potential, “we have all accepted that there is a long road ahead which will require financial and operational patience”.
Marataba, about three hours from Johannesburg, has 15 luxury tents. The plan is to launch photographic safaris, walking trails and boat safaris.
But the economics of game farms have changed dramati- cally in recent years.
More said buying luxury safari lodges in established reserves for investment was no longer financially viable, partly because of the limited supply, and partly because wealthy individuals such as Virgin’s Richard Branson and Aspen Holdings’ Stephen Saad have been piling into these reserves.
While importers bemoan the weak rand, More said that this had made South Africa a more compelling safari proposition than other African countries, which worked in dollars.
As a result, More expects a strong 12 to 18-months of business for South African game farms. This depends, however, on whether visitors are coming from countries with stronger economies (the US, Canada and the UK) or struggling economies (most European countries).
“Americans are location specific and icon specific. They are pretty well informed, and likely to want to experience Cape Town, the Winelands, Sabi Sand, Kruger, Victoria Falls and Botswana”.
MORE also manages other game farms, like Lion Sands in Mpumalanga, which has been visited by a number of big-ticket celebrities including George Michael and Lady Gaga, who visited last year.
Michelle Obama and her kids stayed at Madikwe, also managed by MORE, as did actress Drew Barrymore.