Unexplored, a US-based provider of travel reservation platforms and online consumer and trade travel services, has announced Safari.net, a joint venture with AfriCam.com, the virtual wildlife reserve, and South African National Parks, the national wildlife reserve system.
A virtual one-stop shop for planning a safari, Safari.net will offer a comprehensive collection of Africa's finest wilderness and adventure experiences including rare and exclusive destinations and exotic travel options.
The site will feature interactive content to bring the consumer or agent's safari research to life through images, video, sound, maps, stories and editorial opinion. Visitors to Safari.net will be able to go on a "virtual safari," a multimedia offering made possible by AfriCam's network of live wilderness cameras.
"The belief of the partners is that through the technology which is becoming available, we will have a marketing tool which will grow the numbers of tourists to Africa," says Peter Armitage, CE, AfriCam.
"Safari.net is the first step in realising Unexplored's vision of being an essential technology and content resource for planning and booking adventure travel," comments JP Thieriot, founder and CEO, Unexplored. "By partnering with premier African travel and Internet companies, we will create a new channel of expertise that travel agents can leverage to connect their safari-going clients with high-end and best-of-category tour operators and outfitters."
The announcement of Safari.net formalises Unexplored's exclusive online marketing and distribution partnership with South African National Parks, the national wildlife reserve system that includes the Kruger National Park.
Unexplored has also named SA's Wilderness Safaris, which markets and manages the leading wildlife camps and reserves throughout Southern Africa, as its first preferred ground operator. In the coming months, Safari.net will announce the addition of other best-of-category safari operators throughout the continent.
Starting with Safari.net, each of Unexplored's specialised travel sites will focus on distinctive, extraordinary destinations and activities for discerning travellers. Unexplored sites will serve as resources for travel agents to research, plan, recommend and book trips to uncommon destinations for their clients.
The site is due to go live in the fourth quarter of 2000.
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