Beware Some Africa Travel Association Tour Scammers
March 17th, 2009 | by admin |
A lot of Africa travel association safari tours are advertised on the internet. They all claim to be the best in the business, giving the best value for your money and offer the best safari packages than the competition. The huge number of African tour organizers that are online today can truly intimidate a person wanting to book a safari tour. What company can you choose and which can you rely upon? Most online companies ask for an advance payment which can be a risky step to get into involving your hard-earned money.
Self-posted praise release
You want to save money – that is the whole idea why you want to book directly. But who can you trust, especially online? How can you differentiate the genuine safari operator from the scammer? Probably the best way to gain info about a reliable safari booking operator is through a personal recommendation or a positive testimonial about a company. Do not rely on online Africa travel association recommendations. Many fly-by-night companies post these favorable blurbs themselves. Viral word of mouth is the most trusted way to build credibility in any recommendation.
Perform some due diligence
Do some online research to see if a company is duly registered with a reputable and professional tourist organization. Any vaunted awards displayed on a website may look impressive. They may, however, be fake. Use due diligence.
Send your quotes request to some Africa travel association safari operators. If the quotes return with a price that is too good to be true, then it probably is. Once you arrive on the safari site, you might find your tour vehicle jam packed with other tourists and you have to elbow your way for a window seat. The tour vehicle may have been worn out from years of use in rugged terrain and may conk out any minute. The promised itinerary won’t mean a thing here in the wilderness and your entire African safari experience may be a scam.
No to blitzkrieg safaris
Do not be seduced by an Africa travel association tour itinerary that crams a lot into your schedule in Africa. The more activities your itinerary includes, the more busy and frazzled your schedule will be. The company may be aware of this but couldn’t care less. The only way to enjoy the beauty of Africa is to do it one day at a time. Spend more time in each location, maybe two days at least. Safari fatigue sets in after covering too many locations in a very short span of time, usually just a day in each location. Because of exhaustion, you will pray for your safari to end, fly home, swearing never to go on safari again.