GRAMMATICAS CONSULTING LTD
Briefing Note
By Dominic Grammaticas FCA
June 2026
Revenues are flowing. Camps are full. CEOs can relax, right?
No. They cannot.
High season is when the money comes in. But it is also when costs can quietly run away from you. More guests means more consumables, more fuel, more vehicle wear, more staff overtime, more laundry, more of everything. If you are not tracking those costs in real time, the surplus you were counting on at the end of the season may not materialise.
Cost discipline matters all the time. But it matters most now, precisely because the revenues create a false sense of comfort. It is easy to assume the numbers will take care of themselves when occupancy is at 90%. They will not. The difference between a high season that delivers a healthy surplus and one that merely breaks even often comes down to how tightly operating costs are managed week by week, not month by month.
Here is the question every CEO should be asking: do you have the tools to measure your costs in advance, or do you only get visibility when your finance team sends you the management accounts at some point down the line? If the answer is the latter, you are driving with your eyes on the rear-view mirror.
Real-time cost tracking is not a luxury for large operators. It is a basic discipline that every safari business should have in place. You need to know your cost per bed night, your cost per game drive, your fuel consumption against budget, your staff costs against forecast — not last month’s numbers, but this week’s. The technology to do this is available and affordable. The question is whether you are using it.
This is one of the areas where Grammaticas Consulting Ltd works closely with clients. Building the financial frameworks, dashboards, and reporting disciplines that give leadership teams genuine visibility over their cost base — not after the fact, but in time to act on it. If high season ends and you are surprised by the result, something in your financial management needs to change.
The revenue opportunity of high season is significant. Make sure your cost management is good enough to convert it into the surplus your business needs. If you would like help reviewing and strengthening your cost management systems, I would welcome the conversation.
Dominic Grammaticas FCA
Managing Director, Grammaticas Consulting Ltd
