A familiarisation trip — a FAM trip — is the single most effective marketing investment an African safari lodge or hotel can make in the UK market. A travel consultant who has experienced your property first-hand will recommend it with a conviction, specificity and enthusiasm that no brochure, website or training session can replicate. They will remember the guide's name, the sound of the river at night, the quality of the food. They will tell their clients stories about your property because they have their own story to tell.
The challenge is ensuring that FAM trip invitations reach the right consultants — those who are actively selling your destination and have clients who match your property's profile — and that the experience is designed to maximise the commercial benefit for your property on their return.
Strategic FAM trip planning
Not all FAM trips deliver equal return. The most productive familiarisations are those that bring the right mix of consultants — representing a spread of operators and markets — at the right time of year, with a programme that showcases your property's most compelling elements. Kusa Connect works with partner properties to design FAM experiences that address specific commercial goals.
We identify the specific consultants and product managers whose familiarity with your property would have the greatest commercial impact. This means prioritising consultants from operators that are growing their Africa programmes, consultants who handle the client profile that suits your property, and consultants whose existing Africa knowledge means they can appreciate — and articulate — what makes your property genuinely distinctive.
"The best FAM investment is not the most lavish one. It is the one with the right people on it — consultants who will come back and immediately start recommending your property to their clients."
What we handle
- Guest identification and invitation — selecting and personally inviting the most commercially valuable UK consultants
- Programme design — structuring the itinerary to showcase your property's key strengths and differentiation
- Logistics coordination — managing flights, transfers, schedules and documentation for UK-based guests
- In-trip communication — ensuring guests have everything they need and that the experience reflects your brand standards
- Post-FAM follow-up — maintaining momentum after guests return, tracking operator activity and measuring commercial outcomes
Combined operator and media FAMs
Some of the most impactful FAM trips combine travel trade and media guests — a carefully selected travel journalist or blogger alongside a group of operator consultants creates mutual benefit. The media guest generates published content; the operators have a first-hand experience. Kusa Connect can facilitate combined FAMs where this approach is appropriate for your property.