Perfect Starry Skies: A New Draw for Travelers to Southern Africa
Photo Credit: An anBEYOND stargazing lodge in Southern Africa. andBEYOND
Skift Take
The luxury safari market in southern Africa is a competitive space, and it pays to leverage any unique selling points. Now savvy lodge operators are trading on the darkness of the night skies to encourage bookings.
While some destinations trade on the buzz of bright lights to entice tourists, a handful of wilderness lodges in southern Africa are turning that approach on its head, touting the darkness of the skies above as a major draw card.
It’s the sharp end of a global movement, spurred on by the Arizona-based International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). Founded in 1988, the IDA is a registered non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies."
In 2001, the IDA established its International Dark-Sky Places (IDSP) Program to recognize areas around the world actively working to reduce light pollution and preserve night sky darkness and the contrast of the stars.
This year saw the !Ae!Hai Kalahari Heritage Park in northern South Africa declared an International Dark-Sky Sanctuary, and it’s added a new facet to the region’s nascent tourism economy.
“Astro-tourism has been identified
