Luxury Travel Advisor - December 2007 - (Page 70) LOCAL CONNECTIONS NAMIBIA’S Abenteuer Afrika HILMAR TONNEMACHER I t seems that where movie stars go, chaos follows. Not in Namibia however, a place few American tourists have ventured, despite the fact that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie headed there for the 2006 birth of daughter Shiloh. It’s something Hilmar Tonnemacher, part owner and sales and marketing director for Abenteuer Afrika (www.aben teuerafrika.com)—which handled Brangelina’s travel arrangements in Namibia—is looking to change. Here, in one of his few interviews with American press, Tonnemacher discusses the specialties of his Swakopmund-based business and why Namibia is so much more than a celebrity stopover. Tell us about your company. My company has been in business since 1990, specializing in upscale travel in Namibia that’s all customized and escorted. We handle a lot of travel for royals and movie stars and, currently we probably have fewer than 300 clients a year. Our main market for tourists is Europe, but we feel that America has the potential to take that over. We’ve never pitched ourselves to the American market in the past because, before now, Namibia wasn’t ready for the American market. Is there a significance to the company’s name? Abenteuer is German for “adventure.” Namibia used to be a German colony. What do you feel is the appeal of Namibia? of Abenteuer Afrika. as appropriate. Meerkat Manor [a British television documentary series about a family of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert] also is quite big here. You can’t visit the meerkats in the Kalahari, but we have a lodge, called Rostock Ritz, that has a large community of meerkats—about 10 to 15—so it’s almost like Meerkat Manor. You can even pet the ones that haven’t been integrated back into the wild yet. It isn’t really exclusive to us, but we do have more exclusive access because the guy who runs the lodge is a close, personal friend of mine. How can agents best contact you? We don’t encourage people to simply book us over the Internet; instead, we are open to agents contacting us directly. We also do some travel under the flag of tour operators like Abercrombie & Kent, Micato Safaris and Travcoa. Agents can contact my partner and our general manager, Dianne Orban (dorban@ abenteuerafrika.com). It is beautiful, unspoiled nature, paired with some nice and small upscale accommodations that feel really personal and private. The main mode of transportation is private air charter, which also helps to make it very upscale. The highlights of Namibia are the Etosha National Park, known for its animals, and the Caprivi Strip [a measure of land that ends where four countries come together]—that is a must visit. Namibia’s desert [the Namib] also is the oldest living desert on earth. When you fly along this landscape, people cannot picture it [beforehand], it is so unspoiled. What special services do you offer? Because the mode of transport is usually by plane, we have a private pilot/guide, who functions more as a tour manager rather than a guide. For example, if a client likes where he is staying and the itinerary has him leaving in the morning, he can make the ad hoc decision to stay later and the guide will rework the itinerary Now to the most important question: What are Brad and Angelina like? They were two of the greatest people to work with. They are, of course, demanding, but really down to earth. Angelina did a movie, Beyond Borders, here a few years ago and she just fell in love with the destination. In fact, I just recently read an interview where she was asked about her favorite destination and she said that it is Namibia. —Jennifer Merritt 70 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | December 2007 http://www.abenteuerafrika.com http://www.abenteuerafrika.com
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