Guiding Africa safari standards
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He’s the go-to safari guide to the BBC and heads up the team at Heritage Hotels, but Paul Kirui has bigger plans to improve standards across Kenya. In this special edition of Eye on Africa, Amanda Greenwood delves into the life of a tour guide that knows no boundaries.
Defining someone as an ‘expert’ is often an exaggerated claim but each story I hear from top safari guide Paul Kirui oozes of the knowledge you can only find from seeking for perfection. His work as head safari guide at Heritage Hotels is only a small part of his career, which has seen him lead BBC cameramen and presenters during several ‘Big Cat Diaries’ and wildlife series and become chairman of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association to drive standards across the country.
His role in the hospitality industry has clearly impacted his view of customer service and standards, with Kirui intent that those who visit its hotels will see what they want to and not what they are told to. So just as hotels change the way they service customers, it appears the tourism and touring businesses are doing just the same, with a personalised approach.
“A guide can make or break a trip,” he says several times throughout our chat. “We really invest in training our guides so they are the best and train them on an annual basis so there is a uniform standard across the group. We take a different approach to build the customers’ experience with our guidance as we know priorities and expectations change with each guest.”
His work with the BBC has also left him under no doubt that technology and television is changing client perceptions. With more watching documentaries and booking up holidays from their laps, Kirui knows people expect more than before and encouraged the UK travel trade to think about the quality of guides as much as accommodation when it comes to booking a holiday for clients. It has also shifted how Heritage has adopted its game drives.
“A few years ago most tourists wanted to tick off the ‘Big Five’ and it was like a competitive experience. Now they view it differently because they have watched television shows and are more aware that sometimes you have to wait and it takes time to see the animals. Our photography guests really appreciate it when I have told them to wait a few hours at the same spot and eventually get a great shot,” he said. “A bad holiday experience comes from a bad guide so we have to prepare our guides to what the client wants to create understanding and explanation. We also get them to appreciate the smaller things too like a sunset or insects, or bring cultural knowledge about nearby plants so there is an element of surprise.”
Having installed the standard into Heritage Hotels, Kirui is now using his role at the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association to bring the level nationwide. Under his leadership a four-tier grading of guides has been introduced with exams and practical tests, with the ultimate gold level status taking six years to achieve. So if you think your training can be intense at times, spare a thought for Kirui’s students out in the plains.
“We take the guides out on three-day game drives and with us acting as guests we tear them apart, ask questions and rip the drive up to see how they handle it,” says Kirui. “We want to see how they can handle any situation that could happen like difficult customers, a medical issue or repairing the car.”
Only 18 guides have reached this level so far and Kirui’s pride is evident when he explains the greater impact of training and standards.
“I want our guides to be ambassadors and present them to guests as sales people. In the past guides in Kenya had a bad reputation because of their behaviour but now we are working with the government to reign this in,” he explains. “The association is working with guides to build policies and professional guides that can present the best they can.”
With this detailed approach Kirui hopes Kenya will become the pick of the safari destinations past nearby competitors such as South Africa and Tanzania. “I’m happy to leave a small legacy in a part of the world,” he smiles as we conclude our conversation. But with his expertise allowing the BBC to capture the images it can and with visits to conservation projects in the UK planned while he’s over here, it seems Kirui’s legacy may stretch further than he thinks.
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