History of &Beyond
&Beyond was established alongside rising international demand for ecotourism and wildlife experiences, and in the belief that, through business enterprise, wildlife conservation could be placed on a sustainable economic footing.
The Beginning
In 1991 &Beyond (then called Conservation Corporation Africa or CC Africa) began realizing our dream of extending Africa’s green frontier by developing and sustaining wildlife sanctuaries across the continent and inviting the world to share in our vision.
&Beyond is an evolution of the model originally established over 30 years ago at Londolozi Private Game Reserve. This model demonstrated that, by harnessing international capital through low-impact, high-yield tourism, conservation land could prove its economic viability whilst affording rural communities a meaningful share of the benefits.
The spirit and efficacy of this model, implicit in the company’s core ethic of “Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, Care of the People” was not only recognised and supported by the holders of international investment capital, but has been underwritten by numerous awards, including the important WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow award and a host of hospitality and conservation accolades.
Phinda – The Return
The expansion of &Beyond’s vision began with an ambitious project in the early 1990s in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was called Phinda – the Zulu word for “the return”. Phinda Private Game Reserve would become the most compelling realisation of the dream of creating sustainable conservation through responsible tourism.
With the birth of &Beyond Phinda and its extensive involvement in the local community, &Beyond established the Rural Investment Fund, now known as Africa Foundation. Africa Foundation focuses on rural development around &Beyond lodges and reserves, and facilitates international financial support for responsible, consultative community projects in rural Africa.
Growing through Africa into 3 continents
From 1995 &Beyond continued to expand its portfolio of superior safari lodges and moved into Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, and later Botswana and Namibia.
In February 2000, &Beyond merged with two other travel outfits (Afro Ventures and Into Africa) to form one of Africa’s most comprehensive tourism companies, combining the strength of its lodge portfolio with a large tour operating division, destination management, group travel and mobile safari specialist operation.
In 2006 it extended it’s touring expertise into India with growth in the sub-continent taking it into Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal. This expansion resulted in the name change in 2008 from CC Africa, as it was then known, to &Beyond to reflect the company’s extended footprint beyond Africa.
South America was proudly added to the portfolio in 2015, adding Chile, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador to &Beyond’s experiential travel offering.