Terry Murphy grew up in a mining family, the son of a father who worked for De Beers, and lived in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. It was in Botswana that he completed a game-ranger course, feeding a passion for wildlife and the bush that would later shape his career. For travelers dreaming of an African safari, the price has long decided who gets to go. Murphy built a business around changing that, and two decades later, the people who book through his company are still feeling the difference.
Murphy founded African Budget Safaris in 2006, at a moment when the early online travel marketplace was taking shape. The company offers a range of experiences for adventure seekers, and it has endured the Covid-19 pandemic, political turmoil and a constantly shifting digital landscape to remain an active player in the industry twenty years on.
Additional reference context is available at https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2026/11/08/off-the-beaten-track-building-an-african-safari-business/.
He went on to work for a large overland company as the industry grew from fairly informal journeys into a major tourism sector, and it was there that he saw an opportunity others had missed.
“Twenty years ago, commercial use of the internet was taking off. There were established online companies catering for the luxury safari market, but very few focused on travelers with more modest budgets,” Murphy tells FORBES AFRICA. “Because I was already working in that space, I decided to create a similar online business aimed at the budget and mid-range market.”
For the travelers he serves, that distinction matters. Murphy is quick to point out that budget does not mean low quality. A basic camping safari can cost $200 per person per day, while three- or four-star lodges run $400 or $500 per day. That remains far below the high-end market, where prices can start at $1,000 or $2,000 per night.
The beginnings were modest in every sense. Murphy started with what he calls a “cut-and-paste website” and had no idea what responses he would get. When the queries began arriving, he admits he was as surprised as anyone. Today the business receives about 400 inquiries a month and converts roughly 25% to 30% of them into trips. Because a single inquiry may represent several travelers, Murphy estimates the company handles between 6,000 and 8,000 clients a year.
Meanwhile, the online environment that generated those leads in the early years has changed. For many years, Google produced about 90% of the company’s leads. In hindsight, Murphy acknowledges that relying so heavily on one platform was not the best strategy, because the way the search engine operates has changed significantly.
“In the past, the goal was simply to appear on the first page of Google’s search engine. Now the focus is also on appearing in AI-generated answers and overviews,” he says.
Those changes have reduced click-through traffic to websites, which means businesses increasingly need to become part of the answer users see. “We invested heavily in video production and social media, and the business has become more of an ecosystem. We have become content creators ourselves,” Murphy says. “The changes were a wake-up call because we realized that no single source of leads could be expected to work forever. At one stage, we experienced a decline of about 40%, but we have since recovered roughly 20% to 25% of that loss by investing in alternative channels.”
The people who take these trips shape how the business speaks to them. The majority of clients come from North America: around 60% are based in the United States, with the remaining 40% from traditional European and other international markets. The company even adapts the language on its website for that audience, using words such as vacation rather than holiday.
What travelers want from a safari is changing too, according to Kgomotso Ramothea, CEO of the African Travel & Tourism Association. “The growing demand for deeper connection, learning and reflection, particularly among mature, high-value travelers and diaspora markets, goes hand-in-hand with demand for expert-led journeys, cultural storytelling and heritage-rich itineraries,” she says. “There is an increased opportunity for collaboration between suppliers and operators, and for designing longer, more experiential itineraries.”
None of it has been plain sailing. Before Covid, the major challenges were events such as political unrest, floods or Ebola outbreaks, situations that required the company to assist clients, negotiate with suppliers and postpone or restructure trips. The pandemic was different in kind. “Covid was on a completely different scale because the business was effectively shut down for two and a half years. Within six months, we had to reduce our running costs to about 10% of their previous level,” Murphy says.
Looking ahead, he will be watching the development of AI and how it changes the nature of his business. “Nobody knows exactly where the online environment will be in five years, so we have to remain adaptable,” he says. For the thousands of travelers who find their way to the bush through his company each year, that adaptability is what keeps the door open.