When we decided to do a cover story addressing the
misconceptions about traveling in Africa (“African Safari,” page
18), I knew just who to call. Ron Mracky and his wife, Sylvia, own
Los Angeles-based Production Travel and Tours, and they are true
African specialists. Ron also serves on the International Board of
Directors of the African Travel Association (ATA), a great resource
for agents.
“By just being a member of the ATA, you have access to a network
of experts,” said Ron. “We’re always helping each other out.”
According to Ron, the West is a great place to find candidates
for an Africa vacation.
“The area west of the Rockies supplies well over 50 percent of
the leisure travelers to Africa,” said Ron. “Southern California
alone supplies anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the leisure
travelers.”
Westerners are more adventurous in general, Ron feels, and in
Southern California in particular, the entertainment industry with
the long breaks between productions especially lends itself to
African travel. Plus, Africa is hip.
“In the last four or five years, Africa has been elevated to a
very up-and-coming destination,” said Ron, “because your serious
long-haul traveler who likes to travel for personal enrichment has
been everywhere already. [Tour operators] are looking to find
something new and different to satisfy some of the more creative
desires of the traveling public. And Africa’s got that.”
Ron also sees increases in family travel as a small but growing
niche market, because “kids love it. There’s nothing more exciting
than suddenly seeing a giraffe right there in front of you
literally eating out of your hand. It’s wild.”
Perhaps the greatest benefit to helping clients overcome their
misconceptions about traveling to Africa, however, is that there is
tremendous satisfaction in helping people realize what is often the
dream of a lifetime.
“I have not met anyone yet who, after going to Africa for the
first time, is satisfied with that being their only visit,” Ron
said. “Nobody says ‘Nah, I never want to go to Africa again.’”
The African Travel Association can be reached at:
www.africa-ata.org. K.S.