African Conservation Experience
African Conservation Experience is a UK-based conservation travel company founded in 1999 that designs and operates curated volunteer, study/career, wildlife travel, and school field trip experiences across southern Africa, serving individual travellers, students, and educational institutions through direct bookings and academic partnerships.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersRichmond, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What African Conservation Experience does
African Conservation Experience (ACE), founded in 1999 and headquartered in Richmond, United Kingdom, is a private limited company operating a curated conservation travel platform across southern Africa (South Africa and Botswana). It designs, sells, and operates four core product lines: Volunteer Experiences (hands-on conservation work at rehabilitation centres, reserves, and research projects), Study & Career Programs (internships and EMS placements for students and graduates), Wildlife Travel (tailor-made small-group trips), and Field Trips (curriculum-based programs for schools and universities including IB CAS trips). The product portfolio encompasses more than 50 named experiences ranging from one-week single-project placements to multi-week combined itineraries spanning multiple countries and conservation themes (rhino, lion, elephant, wild dog, marine, veterinary).
The business is operationally intensive and relationship-driven. ACE maintains a network of 10+ core partnerships with leading conservation projects and bodies including SANParks, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Care For Wild, Phinda, and the Okavango Wilderness Project, and operates a 24/7 in-country team in Johannesburg. Its technology layer is a web-based booking and enquiry platform rather than proprietary software; there is no disclosed API, SDK, or AI/ML capability. Distribution is primarily direct-to-consumer (website enquiries, phone lines for UK/International and Americas, email, online booking) supplemented by appointed travel agents and direct academic institution partnerships. The revenue model is one-time, quote-based bookings with a deposit at confirmation and balance due 8 weeks prior to departure, accepting card and bank transfer. ACE is ABTA-registered (Y6702) and ATOL-licensed (6123), providing financial protection to travellers. The company is privately held, has never taken outside funding, and operates with a 16-person team.
African Conservation Experience firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- African Conservation Experience
- Legal name
- African Conservation Experience Limited
- Website
- https://conservationafrica.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- African Conservation Experience is a UK-based conservation travel company founded in 1999 that designs and operates curated volunteer, study/career, wildlife travel, and school field trip experiences across southern Africa, serving individual travellers, students, and educational institutions through direct bookings and academic partnerships.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
African Conservation Experience industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Conservation Travel Services
- NAICS
- Travel Agencies (561510), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Safari & Wildlife Travel Agencies (THAKAFAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Citizen Science & Conservation Volunteer Tourism Programs (On-Site) (THAAAFAH), Guided Wildlife Safaris & Game Drives (Sanctuary/Reserve-Based) (THAAAFAF), Conservation Parks & Private Nature Reserves (Visitor Operations) (THAAAFAB)
Keywords
Where African Conservation Experience is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Richmond
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
African Conservation Experience business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Conservation Travel Bookings: Revenue generated from booking conservation travel experiences including volunteer programs, wildlife travel, study/career programs, and field trips in Africa. Customers pay deposits and balances for trip packages that include accommodation, meals, transfers, and project access.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Custom quote-based pricing for conservation travel experiences |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
African Conservation Experience product offering
Product offeringCore offering
African Conservation Experience is a conservation travel company that curates and sells hands-on wildlife volunteer experiences, study and career internships, wildlife travel, and educational field trips in Southern Africa. Customers pay package fees that include accommodation, meals, transfers, and access to partner conservation projects, rehabilitation centres, and research reserves across South Africa and Botswana.
Product overview
African Conservation Experience (ACE) is a conservation travel company offering a portfolio of themed travel experiences across southern Africa. The company operates four core product lines: Volunteer Experiences (hands-on wildlife conservation work), Study & Career Programs (internships and professional placements), Wildlife Travel (behind-the-scenes access for curious travellers), and Field Trips (curriculum-based educational programs for academic institutions). Individual experiences range from single-project placements lasting 1-12 weeks to combined multi-project journeys lasting up to 6 weeks. Experiences are categorized by focus area (rhino, lion, elephant, wild dog conservation), activity type (veterinary, research, rehabilitation, marine), and traveller type (gap year, sabbatical, field trip, career break). The company positions itself as the original conservation travel company since 1999, providing personalized experiences built around individual travellers rather than standardized packages.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Volunteer Experiences
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 300,000 local school children educated through partner project visitor programmes
Companies that use African Conservation Experience
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
African Conservation Experience technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
African Conservation Experience partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT)corePartnership with EWT for vulture conservation initiatives, wildlife poisoning response, and data collection on raptor recovery. Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre works with EWT on emergency poisoning incidents.
- South African National Parks (SANParks)corePartnership with SANParks for Kruger National Park conservation initiatives and anti-poaching work in the Greater Kruger region.
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF)minorPartner organisation supporting global wildlife conservation efforts, aligned with ACE's conservation mission.
- UN Sustainable Development GoalsminorAlignment with UN SDGs demonstrating commitment to quality education, gender equality, clean water, decent work, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, life on land, peace, and partnerships.
- Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation CentrecoreKey partner rehabilitation centre in South Africa providing wildlife care, orphan care, and veterinary support. Hosts volunteers and contributes to vulture conservation and poisoning response.
- Care For Wild Africa Rhino SanctuarycoreLargest specialist rhino care centre in Africa, partnered with ACE for volunteer placements and rhino conservation efforts.
- Phinda Private Game ReservecoreBig 5 conservation reserve and research project partner featured in international media including Terra X documentary.
- Okavango Wilderness ProjectcoreResearch project in Okavango Delta home to the largest elephant population on Earth, offering wildlife research and monitoring opportunities.
- Golola Rhino Orphanage and Rehabilitation CentrecoreSpecialist centre for orphaned baby rhinos, partnered with ACE for volunteer experiences and rehabilitation work.
- Shimongwe Veterinary ExperiencecoreVeterinary EMS placements and wildlife veterinary expeditions providing hands-on experience with wildlife veterinarians in the field.
- ABTAcoreABTA membership (Y6702) provides financial protection and regulatory compliance for all bookings, ensuring traveller security.
- ATOL (Air Travel Organiser's Licence)coreATOL protection (number 6123) issued by Civil Aviation Authority provides insolvency protection for flight-inclusive package bookings.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
African Conservation Experience competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Volunteer World: Volunteer World is an online marketplace that aggregates volunteer programmes globally, including conservation projects in Africa. It represents a tech-enabled, aggregator-style competitor that could disrupt traditional operators like ACE over time.
Broad incumbents
- Raleigh International: Raleigh International is an established UK-headquartered expedition organisation running volunteer programmes including community and environmental projects. It competes for the same UK-based gap-year, student and career-break audience as ACE.
- Responsible Travel: Responsible Travel is an ethical-travel marketplace that curates and resells conservation-focused trips in Africa from multiple small operators. It overlaps with ACE on the ethical-wildlife-traveller customer and is an indirect channel competitor as well as a partial distribution partner.
- &Beyond: &Beyond is a luxury safari and conservation-focused travel operator across Africa with a strong brand and conservation footprint. It targets higher-end, less hands-on safari customers than ACE but competes for the same ethical-wildlife-traveller wallet share.
Direct peers
- Global Vision International (GVI): GVI runs volunteer and internship programmes in wildlife conservation, marine conservation and environmental projects across multiple continents. It is the closest direct competitor to ACE, offering hands-on conservation placements to volunteers, students and gap-year travellers in a near-identical operating model.
- IVHQ (International Volunteer HQ): IVHQ is a large global volunteer placement platform with conservation and wildlife programmes in Africa. While broader in scope, it directly overlaps ACE on conservation volunteering customers, pricing model and online booking funnel.
- Biosphere Expeditions: Biosphere Expeditions runs paid citizen-science and conservation volunteer expeditions worldwide, including Africa. Its model of combining volunteer labour with scientific research is closely comparable to ACE's research and rehabilitation placements.
- Projects Abroad: Projects Abroad is one of the largest international volunteer-travel operators, including dedicated wildlife and conservation projects in Africa. It overlaps directly with ACE on conservation volunteering, internships and gap-year placements targeting similar customer segments.
- Frontier: Frontier (originally the Project Trust-affiliated conservation gap-year operator) runs conservation volunteer and research projects worldwide, with significant Africa exposure. It competes directly with ACE for conservation volunteers, gap-year travellers and career-break participants.
- The Great Projects: The Great Projects focuses specifically on ethical wildlife volunteer experiences in Africa and beyond, mirroring ACE's positioning on ethical, hands-on conservation travel. It targets a very similar customer persona of conservation-minded travellers and students.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
African Conservation Experience social profiles
Digital presenceAfrican Conservation Experience compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
African Conservation Experience financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
African Conservation Experience leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
African Conservation Experience funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
African Conservation Experience M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about African Conservation Experience
What does African Conservation Experience do?
African Conservation Experience is a conservation travel company that curates and sells hands-on wildlife volunteer experiences, study and career internships, wildlife travel, and educational field trips in Southern Africa. Customers pay package fees that include accommodation, meals, transfers, and access to partner conservation projects, rehabilitation centres, and research reserves across South Africa and Botswana.
Is African Conservation Experience a public or private company?
African Conservation Experience is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was African Conservation Experience founded?
African Conservation Experience was founded in 1999. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is African Conservation Experience based?
African Conservation Experience is headquartered in Richmond, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does African Conservation Experience make money?
One revenue line is on record: conservation Travel Bookings.
Who are African Conservation Experience's main competitors?
Volunteer World is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Raleigh International, Responsible Travel and &Beyond. Direct peers are Global Vision International (GVI), IVHQ (International Volunteer HQ), Biosphere Expeditions, Projects Abroad, Frontier and The Great Projects.
Does African Conservation Experience have an API?
No public API is recorded for African Conservation Experience.
What industry is African Conservation Experience in?
African Conservation Experience's product category is Conservation Travel Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAFAG, Safari & Wildlife Travel Agencies, with a secondary code of THAAAFAH, Citizen Science & Conservation Volunteer Tourism Programs (On-Site). Its NAICS code is 561510 and its SIC code is 7900.