"India's wildlife is superb - and I'm not only referring to the tigers - yet it's an underrated asset," says CC Africa CEO Steve Fitzgerald. So it's no wonder there is a palpable air of excitement at head office about its joint venture with Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces in the vast country.
The two will break new ground in the Indian tourism industry in October this year when they will offer a first taste of the only wildlife circuit in India - just in time for the tiger-viewing season. The plan is to provide guests with an interpretive wildlife experience based on CC Africa's sustainable ecotourism model.
"The destinations are remarkable and so are the lodges," says CC Africa sales and marketing director Nicky Fitzgerald. There are four in the Madhya Pradesh region - on the border of tiger reserves called Panna, Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha - and one in Uttaranchal near Delhi outside a tiger reserve called Corbett.
Says Steve: "Apart from tigers, there are leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, bears, jackals, foxes, peacocks . . . In fact, the birdlife is amazing. We once parked under a fig tree 50 m from the gate and stayed for more than an hour to take in wonderful birds none of us had ever seen before."
Guests will have a choice of suite, tree-house or tented accommodation. "We're using the same model as we have at Londolozi and Phinda," says Steve. "That is, 12- to 15-room lodges."
Adds Nicky: "We arrived in India to discover that there is only one tiger reserve - in Rajasthan - that has any good accommodation. The others had nothing because the logistics are so complicated that no operator has been brave enough to put its brand in one of them.
"But what other operators don't seem to realise is that 15 years ago in Tanzania it was just as complicated," she adds. "And if guests know they have to travel for six hours by road, they accept it as part of the adventure so long as it's comfortable and safe. So we're excited not only about the joint venture and the incredible animals but also about the fact that there's practically no competition."
The Indian lodges will not only attract CC Africa's usual market of British, American and European - and some South African - tourists. As Steve puts it: "We expect to do well in the local market, too. There may be a lot of desperately poor people in India, but 5% of the country is wealthy and that can equal 50m people."
The design of the lodges caused much amusement because Taj, being an Indian hotel group, had very different ideas. "Their top rooms in Jaipur, complete with marble surfaces and gold taps, go for around US$300/night. We're asking more than $1 000/night for simply fitted jungle huts with cow-dung floors and an outdoor shower - which is exactly what our safari-loving guests want and expect."
Not that CC Africa designer Chris Browne isn't working his usual textural magic in India, too.
Steve points out that since India is a daunting place to travel in, the tour-operating side - getting people into compartments on trains, meeting them at stations, getting their luggage carried and so on - is as important as the lodge operations.
"We've had to make sure it is Western-friendly and that we are geared to hold our guests' hands all the way to the lodges."
