AndBeyond launches WILDeconomy Masterclass in Africa

The organisation has partnered with the School of Wildlife Conservation at the African Leadership University to launch a six-day WILDeconomy Masterclass hosted at andBeyond’s lodges in Tanzania and Kenya. 

Established in 1991, andBeyond is an award-winning luxury experiential travel company that specialises in safaris and tours in Africa, Asia and South America. The organisation has partnered with the School of Wildlife Conservation at the African Leadership  University (ALU) to launch the WILDeconomy Masterclass, a six-day educational journey hosted at andBeyond’s lodges in Tanzania and Kenya that examines the role of the wildlife economy in Africa. Ecotourism, carbon markets, forest products, game ranching, hunting and fishing form the five key pillars on which the experience is built.  

WILDeconomy Masterclass by andBeyond

Hosted by Dr Sue Snyman, the director of research at the university’s School of Wildlife, the WILDeconomy Masterclass includes three nights at andBeyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge in Tanzania, as well as two nights at andBeyond Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp in Kenya’s Masai Mara. In addition to a full complement of game drives and walks, the itinerary also features plenty of opportunities for thoughtful discussion, a complete set of educational resources and a range of interactive experiences.

Issues such as hunting, the role of tourism in a post-Covid world, how the tourism sector can be made more resilient, and whether wildlife should be assigned a monetary value will be addressed and discussed throughout the tour. andBeyond aims to draw attention to the fact that there are more activities than tourism that need to be understood in order to create a successful and balanced wildlife economy.

“There has long been a growing awareness of the role that tourism and conservation play in the economy of many African countries,” says andBeyond chief marketing officer, Nicole Robinson. “However, what became blatantly obvious during the peak of the pandemic is the resilience of conservation is compromised when we rely on a single activity, such as tourism, to drive economic benefits for communities and governments.”

“As an organisation deeply rooted in Africa, we feel that it is our responsibility to draw awareness to these five wildlife-based economic activities,” explains Robinson. “With international travellers growing increasingly concerned about sustainable travel and the economic development of the destinations that they travel to, we felt the time was right to create an itinerary that would explore the broader context of how wildlife can contribute just as much as other resources, such as human capital, oil and gas, to Africa’s economy and, by consequence, to the protection and conservation of its natural assets. In this way, we hope to get our guests, many of whom are influential in their respective fields, to start understanding, educating others about and advocating for the potential of Africa’s wildlife economy.”

The WILDeconomy Masterclass in partnership with African Leadership University is available for bookings from 2023.