ATR (Africa Travel Resource) Review 2026: Is It Worth It, What It Costs, and Who Runs It

ATR, the safari specialist that traded as Africa Travel Resource until 2020, scores 70/100 on our six-criterion operator review: full marks for first-hand African expertise and for destination breadth, and 3 of 20 for independent review evidence. Three of its founders guided in Zambia in the 1980s, 29 named staff give their time in Africa, it sells 21 African countries and islands, and it publishes USD prices on its sample trips with no planning fee. The score is held back by the public record around it: a Feefo account inactive for about six years, an empty Trustpilot listing, in-trip support in office hours only, and a shareholder, Nawiri Group, that Companies House records at more than 25% while ATR's own pages describe it as a partner.

Verified 24 September 2026 · ATR's own pages and booking terms · Companies House record 03995948 · Feefo, Trustpilot, Travelstride and Tripadvisor · World Travel Awards · PR Newswire · ATTA directory

ATR at a glance: the company record

ATR is ATR Safari UK Ltd, company 03995948, incorporated on 17 May 2000 and trading, by its own account, since 1999; it plans tailor-made trips from a barn office in Shere, Surrey, with further offices in Franschhoek, Grosse Pointe and Arusha. Every row below links to its source and was checked on the date shown.

Is ATR worth it?

ATR scores 70/100: it is one of the most experienced Africa desks we have reviewed, and one of the least visible on independent review platforms. The expertise is on the record: Greg Welby says he has personally inspected more than 3,000 lodges, and the team page names 29 people with years in Africa behind them, from former overland guides to lodge managers. What a buyer cannot find is recent, independent proof of how those trips went.

Where ATR stands among the operators we have reviewed

At 70/100, ATR sits 11th of the 13 safari operators reviewed on these six criteria, below Scott Dunn, Natural Habitat Adventures and Roar Africa at 75 and above Ker & Downey Africa at 64. Our earlier comparison of Go2Africa, Expert Africa and Africa Travel Resource scored ATR 67 on the same criteria and reported no ATOL licence on its site. The re-check for this record found ATOL 5983 in ATR's booking terms and ten sample trips with published prices, which moves the score to 70; the changelog below records the change. ATR has not been assessed on our safari planner index or payment terms index.

How much does an ATR safari cost?

ATR's sample trips run from USD 2,550 per person for seven nights on Mauritius to USD 36,150 for ten nights of Kenya and gorillas at its Premium tier; each trip is priced at three levels, Adventure, Luxury and Premium. ATR says its service costs nothing on top, because a trip should cost no more than booking the components directly, and quotes a starting point of about USD 2,500 per person with most trips between USD 5,000 and 50,000. The trip pages do not say what the price includes; ask for the inclusions in writing, including park fees and internal flights.

What do ATR reviews say?

Independent reviews of ATR are positive but old: its 281 Feefo reviews stop about six years ago because ATR is no longer an active Feefo customer, its Trustpilot listing has no reviews, and Travelstride shows a single 2/5 review from 2017. The Feefo reviews praise continuity (one reviewer writes that they have used Africa Travel Resource "for every trip to Southern Africa that we made since 2012"); the Travelstride review praises the lodges but not the support from its agent. On Tripadvisor's Tanzania forum, travellers asking about ATR in recent years got recommendations for named staff, alongside a note that recent reviews were hard to find. ATR's own site quotes a Google rating of 4.9 without a count.

ATR's awards, dated where they can be

The one award confirmed on an awarding body's own site is the World Travel Awards 2007 title of Africa's Leading Overall Travel Information Website; ATR's own history adds a Virgin Fast Track place in 2003 and a 2002 Daily Telegraph feature. ATR does not appear, under either name, in the Condé Nast Traveller specialist lists, Travel + Leisure's World's Best or A-List, the Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards, the British Travel Awards, the Safari Awards or the B Corp directory, as far as could be checked.

Where ATR travels, and its journey styles

ATR sells 21 African countries and islands, from mainstream Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa to Chad, the Central African Republic, Sudan and São Tomé and Príncipe, and has added South America, the Indian subcontinent and Antarctica since 2019. It began in 1999 with Zanzibar, then mainland Tanzania. Its style pages cover savanna, family, honeymoon, luxury, walking, self-drive and overland trips, and species-led safaris from gorillas and chimpanzees to wild dogs and rhino.

Who owns ATR?

ATR is run by its founders, and since 2023 part-owned by Nawiri Group, a Mauritius-based safari investor: Companies House records Nawiri as holding more than 25% and not more than 50% of the shares, and the founders Anthony Fishlock and Gregory Welby as directors since 2000. ATR's own history says the business started when friends who had guided in Zambia's Kafue in the 1980s met around a kitchen table, and that it "continues to be owned and operated by the same team, including all of the original founders". Nawiri announced a partnership with ATR, "the UK owner-operated Safari specialist", including a minority interest, on 19 April 2023; Nawiri was formed in 2022 around majority interests in Asilia Africa and Go2Africa.

ATR's booking terms and financial protection

ATR takes a 30% deposit and the balance 90 days before travel; cancelling 90 days or more ahead costs the deposit, 46 to 89 days costs half, and inside 45 days costs everything. Its terms give ATOL licence 5983 for flight-inclusive trips booked and paid for in the UK; for everything else ATR says it pays suppliers well in advance, "so that even if our company does fail, your bookings will remain intact", without naming a bond or trust account. Insurance for the whole trip is required, amendment fees "can be quite significant", and the terms carry no date or version. Our guide to safari deposits and payment terms explains how these compare.

What the public record does not show

Eight things a buyer might look for could not be found or did not match on 24 September 2026. Each is listed so it can be answered; if ATR publishes or corrects any of them, this record will change with a dated note.

• A 24-hour line while guests are travelling: ATR says support runs in UK and South African office hours.
• What the sample-trip prices include and exclude.
• A date or version on the booking terms.
• An active independent review profile: Feefo is inactive, Trustpilot is empty and there is no SafariBookings listing.
• Street addresses for the Franschhoek, Grosse Pointe and Arusha offices.
• One list of founders: the history page names Lenny Franklin as a founder, the team page lists him as a senior safari expert, and Tracey Bennett, named as a founder on both, is not a registered officer.
• The size of Nawiri Group's stake on ATR's own pages; the register puts it at more than 25%.
• One date for the Nawiri partnership: ATR's timeline says 2024; the announcement was made on 19 April 2023.

ATR vs Go2Africa, Expert Africa and Yellow Zebra Safaris

Against three tailor-made specialists we have reviewed, ATR matches or beats them on expertise and breadth and trails all three on independent reviews; it also shares an investor with Go2Africa, because Nawiri Group holds a stake in both.

How to price a comparable safari

The fair test of any quote from ATR is a like-for-like quote for the same camps, nights and season from a second specialist and a comparison platform. Ask each for the same lodges by name, the same room category and the same inclusions, then compare the per-person total with international flights excluded.

Get a second specialist quote from Go2Africa →

Compare safari operators' prices on BookAllSafaris →

Browse priced safaris on Safari.com →

What changed

Five dated changes shape ATR today, from the 2020 rename to Nawiri's registered stake; the last entry records this page's own re-score.

12 October 2020. The company was renamed ATR Safari UK Ltd.

19 April 2023. Nawiri Group announced its partnership with ATR, including a minority interest.

14 March 2025. Nawiri Group Ltd was notified as a person with significant control.

December 2025. Two sales experts, Sam Bishop and Alicia Sandeman, joined the team.

9 March 2026. Accounts to 30 September 2025 were filed.

24 September 2026. This record opened with a score of 70/100, up from 67 in our three-way comparison, after ATOL 5983 was found in ATR's terms and ten sample-trip prices were checked.