Pretty soon, adventurous travelers can choose to sleep up in the trees at the BAOBAB Luxury Safari Resort in South Africa, an eco-friendly option now in the works.
What is the BAOBAB Luxury Safari Resort?
The resort was designed by Italian firm Mask Architects. Construction is forthcoming, but renderings show cone-shaped treehouses that sit atop the canopy.
But these are no ordinary treehouses — they are designed to produce their own green energy and water, making them completely sustainable. They are covered with curtain glass and transparent solar panels.
While these structures look like they are made of wood, they are actually built out of aluminum poles that have a wooden coating. Air filters pull moisture out of the humid air and then purify it to provide drinking water for resort-goers.
BAOBAB also will include a raised swimming area and an interaction deck where people can feed animals like giraffes.
"It is seen as a luxury to experience it, but also it can educate and elevate people's understanding of nature and wildlife," Mask Architects says on its website.
Why should you care about BAOBAB Luxury Safari Resort?
Traditionally, tourism puts pressure on local environments, including depleting natural resources.
Unfortunately, tourism can also contribute to pollution and waste problems and often leads to the overuse of water. For example, an average golf course in a tropical country uses enough water to support 60,000 rural villagers.
BAOBAB is trying to reverse that trend by distributing water to nearby remote communities that are secluded from the national infrastructure.
"With this project, our goal is to make the most basic need of water accessible rather than a luxury experience, and to prevent hunger, thirst, and the diseases and deaths it causes," the Mask Architects says on its website.
The resort exemplifies a growing trend in the tourism industry. With travelers becoming increasingly interested in eco-responsible travel, hospitality experts are now saying that sustainable tourism is crucial to the future of their sector.
"Sustainable tourism practices play a crucial role in shaping the future of the hospitality industry," Wayne West III, president and CEO of Newport Hospitality Group, wrote in an article for Hospitality Net. "By providing authentic experiences that respect local communities and minimize environmental impact, we can attract more tourists while ensuring long-term sustainability for our industry."
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