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Four steps from your brief to your clients' departure, and one of us accountable for all of them.

Nobody hands their clients to a supplier they cannot see into. This is exactly what happens between the brief you send and the day your clients fly home, so there is nothing to guess at.

The usual reason an operator hesitates over a new ground handler is not the rate. It is not knowing what happens once their clients are eight thousand miles away, and who is actually answerable when something changes. This page answers both.

A guide greeting arriving guests inside the airport arrivals hall

The four steps

  1. Step 1 · Five minutes, or a forwarded email

    You send a brief

    Dates, the party and the children's ages, the level of property, and anything you know about the clients. A forwarded client email is a perfectly good brief. If you are setting up a Cape programme rather than quoting a booking, tell us what you sell and to whom. You hear back within one working day, from Sam or Angie rather than a sales desk.

    An enquiry form open on a laptop on a kitchen table

  2. Step 2 · Usually within three working days

    We cost it properly

    A written proposal, day by day, with properties named and an alternative for each, transfers and timings shown, everything included set out in full, and a net rate for the programme. Revisions are normal and quick. If what the clients want does not fit the days they have, we say so now rather than sell you a rushed itinerary.

    A planning call in progress with a map of the Western Cape on the desk

  3. Step 3 · From your go-ahead to arrival

    You confirm, we contract

    We book the lot: hotels, activities, restaurant tables, child seats and permits. You get a final confirmation with every supplier reference, and a client-facing itinerary ready to send, unbranded or in your own branding. Dietary needs, mobility, the anniversary dinner: all of it reaches every supplier before your clients land.

    A printed day-by-day itinerary with handwritten notes in the margin

  4. Step 4 · Arrival to departure

    Your clients travel

    Their guide meets them in the arrivals hall and stays with them throughout. The plan flexes daily around the wind and the swell, and you are told about anything that matters. Your clients and your office can reach one of us at any hour while they are here. After they fly, you get a short note on how it went and anything worth knowing for next time.

    Two guests photographed through an archway on a painted street in Bo-Kaap

What stands behind it

  • Licensed and accredited

    Escapeades is a registered South African tour operator. Our guides are registered with CATHSSETA and hold provincial guiding licences, our vehicles hold NPTR operating licences, and we are SATSA members. Every number is published on the About page, and copies are yours for your supplier file.

  • Insured properly

    We carry public liability and passenger liability insurance. Every third-party supplier we book, from boats and helicopters to hotels, holds its own licences and cover, which we check rather than assume. We will tell you which activities your clients need to declare to their travel insurer.

  • Your clients stay yours

    We contract with you, not with your clients. We do not market to them, keep their details for our own use, or accept a direct booking from them, during the trip or afterwards. Anything they ask us about future travel is passed back to you.

Questions operators ask us

Do you work on net rates?
Yes. We quote net, per programme, and you set your own selling price. If your business works on commission instead, tell us and we will quote on that basis. We publish no rates and we never quote your clients directly.
What are your payment terms?
A deposit on confirmation and the balance before arrival, with the percentages and dates set out in our trade terms. Where a hotel or charter wants full payment at booking, the proposal says so before you confirm.
Can you operate under our brand?
Yes, and by default. Guides introduce themselves as your team on the ground, the documents your clients see carry your branding or none, and nothing we hand them carries our marketing.
How quickly do you turn a quote around?
A reply to every brief within one working day. A costed proposal for a straightforward trip usually within three working days; for something complicated, we tell you when to expect it rather than go quiet.
What size of party can you handle?
Private travellers and small groups. Above about ten we run two vehicles and two guides, and the proposal says so. For anything much larger, ask, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
Do you cover the rest of South Africa?
No, and on purpose. We do the Western Cape: Cape Town, the peninsula, the Winelands and the Whale Coast. If your clients go on to a safari, we hand them over at the airport to your safari partner. If you do not have one, we can tell you who we would trust.
What happens if something goes wrong while they are here?
Your clients have a number that reaches one of us at any hour, and so do you. We deal with it on the ground, tell you what happened the same day, and put it in writing afterwards. You should never hear about a problem with your clients' trip from your clients first.
Will you host a fam trip or a site inspection?
Gladly. If you are building a Cape programme or training sales staff, tell us who is coming and what you sell, and we will put together a day or a few days around the properties and experiences we would actually use for your clients.

Start with a brief

Five short questions, or a forwarded client email. A real reply within one working day, and nothing committed to until you confirm a proposal.

Send a brief

or email info@escapeades.com

We reply to every trade enquiry within one working day.