I've been working in South Africa since I moved back to the states 16 almost 17 years ago now. I flew in 1990 for about 800 bucks round trip on NWA through Amsterdam. I remember in about 1997 the cost was 1200 bucks. My then package hunt for 10 days and 5 animals was 5100 USD.
In 2006 the price for me to get there went to $1400.00, almost double the cost of the 1990 trip. Granted there is a 16 year span to double the price. However my 9 day 4 animal hunt was still only $4800 USD. Not even close to double, actually a very small change in that same time.
In 2007 the flight went to $1950.00 The single biggest one year price jump in 16 years. It actually went up by 50% of the cost of a 1990 flight! This past year I was stunned to see it had gone up yet again to almost 2200.00 bucks, the truth is, it was even more when you consider additional baggage, and the 50lb baggage weight limit costs.
The price of the 9 day 3 animal safari was $4800 USD. When you look at the costs here you can see that we are quickly getting to a point where the airfare will be closing the gap with the actual safari cost. I have spoken to several airline people now and the thought is that the trip over to RSA with my flight connections will be over 3000 bucks possibly in the next year or two. The bigger concern is that the amount of flights over will get reduced to every other day on some airlines and maybe once or twice a week for others. They will not stay in business with empty seats on the flight. They feel with the cost increase the number of travelers will be reduced, so the number of flights must be reduced. The ability to get a seat will be harder, and the schedules far more difficult. Especially during the popular May June time frame.
I guess what I'm saying here is, if you think for one minute that you're going to try and save up some money to hunt in 2011 or 2012 think again! I doubt you will put the money away at the rate the airline price increase will happen, and even if you can manage it. Will we still have the chance to fly 1/2 way around the world to hunt the way we can now? Also consider what will the costs be to ship trophies back?
The Safari business is alive and well, actually thriving right now. With fewer hunters coming in the future due to the airfare cost, there will be a lot of Safari operations folding, or combining efforts to stay in business. In time the costs to attract hunters will drop, and so will the quality. You cannot manage high quality for low price very long without something breaking.
There are only three basic elements in any business/sale.
Price
service
quality/time to deliver
Anytime you pick one over the other two those are going to suffer. When you base the trip on price, quality and service suffer, if you base the trip on quality the price jumps up.
In the case of the airlines and any strongly fuel based business price goes up and quality goes down! With the Safari operations using Diesel at about 7 bucks a gallon in RSA now, the trip to get hunters from the airport is now a very significant expense. If you think that the Safari industry will have to get more competitive to compensate for the expense your somewhat mistaken. One industry cannot cover the cost for another. Making the safari cheaper because the airfare is so high is not going to happen. At least not for any safari business that wants to stay functional for the future. There are costs invoved with running a quality operation, these don't change just because the airfare has gone through the roof!
In conclusion, if you dream of doing a plains game hunt in your life, it's not going to get less expensive for the trip as a whole. The airfare and even the ability to get a seat when you want is going to get difficult in the next few years. By 2012 I would guess that the amount of hunters going to RSA from the USA will be 1/2 of what it has been in the past. By 2012 the cost of airfare will exceed the basic package cost of a plains game safari. Add to that you may not even be able to bring your guns with the airline weight limits headed our way.
This is not an attempt to generate fear, uncertainty, and doubt, or bookings for me or anyone else. It's simply the truth about what to expect. The simple and affordable plains game safari is quickly being put out of reach with the travel costs.
