Luxury Design in the Wild: Singita

As design plays a growing role in luxury travel the predictable nature of high living and luxury lifestyles have changed. There are only so many destinations and hotels and money can afford you. Travellers are looking for more substance. And so design is now a catalyst to reveal this essence of luxury travel.

Singita Explore, the mobile tented camp in Tanzania, gives access to the utmost exclusivity of real nature. Allowing guests to experience the wild literally a canvas tent wall away. The ‘new luxury traveler’ is searching for the cutting edge of travel and Singita offers through design and with their designers from Cecile & Boyd’s entry into its core. Daniel Scheffler interviews Head of Marketing Lindy Rousseau and Marketing Manager Janalyn Froese from Singita in Cape Town.

How has design historically played a role in the Singita brand?

Design has played an enormous role. It was design that first differentiated the Singita product from other lodges that were operating in South Africa at the time. Singita was the first to truly include design in the safari experience.  Singita prioritised and rated design to be just as important as other aspects of the safari experience – such as wildlife, food, wine, spa etc. And what was important was that design was then used to differentiate each individual Singita property and 10 different experiences across four regions in Africa.

How does the brand incorporate design into product development in 2012?

Design was and is always integral part of the Singita brand offering. Design directed Singita to design new products that are appropriate for what the market is demanding. For example the Singita Explore product – this resulted in direct response to the market demanding a more real and authentic safari experience, closer to nature, back to basics but without losing creature comforts.

In terms of the global move of luxury, where space, freedom and time is more the focus, how has Singita incorporated that into the brand and new brand offerings?

Singita recognises that the characteristics that define luxury have changed dramatically – as we focus on luxury now, we focus on the rarity of our product offering, its authenticity and its enduring nature. We realise that this is what our discerning traveler is expecting in a luxury product. So our communication messages are changing in order to highlight that the Singita product offers a unique closeness to nature, is striving to be eco-friendly (not sacrificing comfort), back to nature and contributing significantly to community upliftment and sustainable wildlife and land preservation.

What is the essence of safari travel?

The essence of safari travel is experience game in the wild. It is a life-transforming opportunity to connect with nature and move out of defined time and space zones.

*Head of Operations, Mark Whitney, adds that “The thrill of the safari experience – Africa is so ‘now’ because it offers a unique connection with nature, closeness to the wild and wildlife and this is what makes people change and transform.  It is so different to what people experience back in their hometowns.” 

How can design get Singita guests closer to the essence of safari travel?

Reflecting on the Lucia van der Post piece in recent Vanity Fair, discerning travellers are going to want to smell the grass more and feel the breezes, be closer to nature – and know that tourism products are helping the environment and the world. Singita is responding to those demands by creating new product offerings that remove the obstacles between guest and nature.  For example the new Singita Mara River Tented Camp has been designed to allow an intense closeness to the wild – and have little environmental impact.  All solar-powered and designed in a way that soothes the soul, shade created by sail cloths, all white cottons and muslins to create a relaxed cool in a rugged, hot environment, splash pool, wide decks under sails close to the river and under trees. Wildlife will roam all around the camp and crocodiles and hippos below in the Mara River.

Find out about more of Singita’s conservation concerns and new lodges at singita.com