Kruger Park POSTPONES Lower Sabie Tent Closure After Outcry
The Kruger National Park has listened to its customers and done a u-turn on its sudden announcement yesterday to close the Lower Sabie tented camp on 13 February… after it caused outrage for visitors who had already booked their holidays, and could not get hold of the Park as advised to change their plans. The Park […]
The Kruger National Park has listened to its customers and done a u-turn on its sudden announcement yesterday to close the Lower Sabie tented camp on 13 February… after it caused outrage for visitors who had already booked their holidays, and could not get hold of the Park as advised to change their plans.
The Park had announced Thursday that “further to the ongoing challenges that Lower Sabie rest camp is experiencing regarding the poor status of the tents” Management had decided to close the tents to complete renovations and upgrades.
They said guests would be moved to other units and camps, or refunded, or accommodated in the tents that were “not in such a bad state”.
Those who had booked took to social media to complain that phones went unanswered and the late announcement was unacceptable.
The South African National Parks (SANParks) has listened and postponed its closure to accommodate booked guests. Public Relations Assistant, Lesley Nyawo, posted the following message on Facebook Friday evening:
“Dear Guests,
“Following on the earlier advisory regarding the closure and renovation of all tents at Lower Sabie, KNP Management further considered all the challenges, suggestions and concerns which were raised by affected visitors.
“Based on this, management has decided to suspend the renovation process until end of April 2017 in order to honour bookings already made until that period.
“The plan is to upgrade the affected tents at Lower Sabie Rest Camp as from May 2017 in order to upgrade to the required standard.
“Due to the current poor standard of the tents, all the existing bookings for the affected tents will be discounted at a rate of 20% with immediate effect until the end of April 2017.
“In the case of fully paid reservations, the discounted amount will be place on the customer account as a credit on hold, which can be used for future reservations or camp activities.
“Please note that the discounted rate will not be extended to newly renovated and or upgraded tents.
“On behalf of KNP Management, we sincerely apologize to our valued guests for the unnecessary inconvenience suffered as a result of this poorly thought through process.
“Should you require further assistance in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact either SANParks Customer Care Centre at 012 426 5017 or the Hospitality Services Manager: Lower Sabie, Ramontsho Ramfolo on telephone +27 13 735 6056/ email Ramontsho.ramfolo@sanparks.org.”
Issued by: KNP Management