Maasai Mara National Reserve, one of the top dollar earners, has dropped two places as Africa’s best safari destination, a new analysis shows.
Africa’s safaris company SafariBooking.com latest rating shows the reserve has dropped from eight in 2018 to 10 in 2019.
The safari company links the drop to park’s poor bush adventure and bird watching rating.
“The park being small, it sometimes gets over-crowded and hence many tourists prefer to visit Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park as it is expansive and un-crowded,” the company said.
A total of 157 parks across 11 African countries were reviewed in the study collated from 2,373 tourists and industry players from 83 countries.
The drop comes barely four-years after the park was awarded the best park in Africa by the World Travel Awards in Zanzibar.
It emerged top for its variety of wildlife, abundance of predators and the annual wildebeest migration.
Kenya Association of Hotel Caterers chairman Christopher Musau blamed the drop on encroachment of the park by locals and climate change.
“Climate change is real, for example, the Mau Forest that empties its water into the park is slowly being depleted and the effect is now being seen in the changes in pattern of wildebeest migrations,” he told the Business Daily.
Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park was voted the best safari park in Africa with a rating of 4.92 on a scale of five.
The East African country retained its dominance for its game diversity and the annual wildebeest migration.
