As the founder of Know Your Tourist, an innovative startup helping businesses and conservation areas understand how to tailor their products to attract African tourists Danielle recently launched the African Bucketlist to get more Africans to fall in love with Africa.

“Conservation for me has always just been ingrained as an element of how I see and interact with the world. That is why I am a strong believer that we need to shift the story of conservation to bring it into- and make it meaningful to everyday people’s lives no matter where they live. Conservation should not be something that people only think of when they are on holiday or read about in the news. Conservation speaks to me of being conscious of the beautiful way everything in this world is intertwined, whether we can see the intricate stitches or not. Conservation is at its root about feeling a deep connection as a human to our planet. And therefore, having an awareness of the impact of our actions on our environment, and on each other.”

She was a part of the Ubuntu ALU MBA cohort and her studies delved deep into the full spectrum and facets that are required to unlock the Business of Biodiversity. This cutting-edge approach not only gave her a holistic skillset as a leader, but it placed her at the forefront of the industry driving innovation and impact in the field. “The business of conservation in Africa is going to change dramatically over the next 5 years, especially due to the impacts of Covid. The fact that international tourism is only predicted to recover in 2024, means that conservation areas are going to have to rethink their old colonial models of safari wildlife tourism that have been reliant on this market. This creates exciting opportunities for conservation areas to create new products to serve the African tourism market. We are going to see a shift away from the donor-funded model of conservation driven by advancement in the valuation of nature, and the creation of investable nature assets which is going to be a game-changer in the business of conservation.