Extraordinary Journeys: Wild Times in the Safari Industry

In April 2017, an entrepreneur in the tour operator industry faced a potential investment decision. Her company, Extraordinary Journeys (EJ), created custom luxury African safaris for a US-based clientele. While EJ had enjoyed dramatic growth since its founding in 2009, the entrepreneur worried that competitive pressures were increasing, as resource-rich companies had entered the market, drawn by the industry's rapid growth. In response to this growing competition, Gordon considered taking on one of three possible strategic opportunities: a public relations campaign, a direct marketing campaign, or a firm-optimization campaign that would use custom-built software to enhance employee productivity.

This case can be used in either a graduate or an advanced undergraduate program for a class in business strategy, travel and tourism, entrepreneurship, or marketing. Specifically, in a business strategy class, the case is meant as an industry analysis exercise using Porter's Five Forces and/or a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. Further, the strategic portion of the case highlights brand strategy and differentiation strategies using theories from Porter, and Ghemawat and Rivkin.<br><br>The case is designed to provide students with the opportunity to do the following:<ul><li>Complete a five forces analysis to analyze the safari tour operator industry.</li><li>Analyze opportunities for tour operator differentiation based on the theories of Porter and of Ghemawat and Rivkin.</li><li>Use basic financial tools of cost and expected value to choose among different strategic opportunities including branding, marketing, and firm operations.</li><li>Better understand the structure of the travel industry, especially within the luxury segment.</li></ul>

• Africa, Travel, Tourism, Tour Operator, Five Forces, Business Strategy, Vertical Integration, Branding