TANYA KAROVSKY
Wilderness Reservations Project Manager – South Africa
Tanya has been a part of the Wilderness Family for almost 20 years. Her wealth of experience includes operations, reservations and human resources, and has allowed her to establish respected relationships with teams across all regions. Combined with her extensive travels through Africa, Tanya is well positioned for her new role and is very excited about her next Wilderness chapter.
An admired team player, Tanya will assist the Head of Reservations in further developing and streamlining Wilderness’ processes and procedures. Her goal is to enhance and maintain best practice in Reservations Travel Design and Operations, while striving for increased sales and superior service delivery to both trade partners and guests.
Tanya grew up in a small farming town in the Eastern Cape, and after completing high school in 1994 enrolled in a Travel and Tourism course. What started out as simply wanting to get a diploma, soon led to a passion for travelling and people. With her qualifications attained, Tanya set her sights on Europe, including Switzerland and London, where she lived, worked and travelled for two years.
She came back to South Africa in 1998 and started her career in the bush at Shamwari Game Reserve, initially running the day-to-day operations at the Day Centre before moving into reservations. She eventually earned a promotion to Lodge Manager at Long Lee Manor.
In 2003, the opportunity to more closely experience Africa’s wildlife led to Tanya’s move to Botswana, joining Wilderness as a camp manager in the Okavango Delta. She immediately fell in love with the wilds of Botswana. She later returned to Shamwari Game Reserve, then moved on to Jock Safari Lodge in the Kruger National Park as General Manager. Tanya’s extensive experience in the safari industry also includes stints at Singita Sabi Sands and US-based ROAR Africa.
Tanya and her husband served as the General Management couple at Wilderness Vumbura Plains, followed by a promotion to Wilderness’ flagship camp, Mombo, before moving into an operational role at the company’s office in Maun.
A move to Johannesburg led to Tanya taking on the role of Senior Journey Specialist, and then Assistant Reservations Manager in the Wilderness Africa department. In 2019, Tanya accepted a new challenge when she was appointed as the company’s South Africa-based Human Resources Manager. As someone who has been working with staff for most of her career, Tanya was thrilled to contribute to this pivotal team. In early 2023 she progressed to Reservations Project Manager.
Tanya is passionate about making a positive impact, and her vision and values resonate with those of Wilderness. She loves being part of a company that is committed to protecting Africa’s iconic wild places. “If I can help make an impact that will ensure my two boys are able to see rhinos one day… for me, that would be the best feeling ever”.