Theresa Keil’s career in the hospitality industry has spanned over 26 years, seeing her grow immensely through various roles, including managing her own marketing representation company. She is currently the Head of Reservations at Wilderness Safaris.

As the oldest of three children growing up in a small town in South Africa’s North West province, Theresa Keil always knew there was more to see and experience in life. After studying for a Diploma in Hotel Management, her working life commenced in the hotel industry in 1994, before she moved into the tourism sector two years later.

Theresa’s career in the hospitality industry has now spanned over 26 years, seeing her grow immensely through various roles, including managing her own marketing representation company. She is currently the Head of Reservations at Wilderness Safaris.

Theresa worked at &Beyond for over 17 years, gaining experience in various positions, as well as training the new reservations teams when the company opened new offices in Dublin and Miami.

In 2016, Theresa launched her own sales and marketing representation company, and a new adventure began. However, when an amazing opportunity arose at Wilderness Safaris to lead the ever-growing Groups, Series and Incentives team, she leapt at the chance to re-join the company as a Business Unit Manager for this exciting division. Having been an integral part of Wilderness from 2005 to 2007, Theresa was excited to not only take on a new and exciting role within the company, but to also return to an organisation so deeply committed to conservation and community empowerment.

Theresa has since played a key role in putting the Wilderness Safaris brand on the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events map. Her vision to showcase the incentive arena of Wilderness on a much larger scale has seen her dynamic team running and operating big groups in both southern and East Africa.

I left Wilderness after the birth of my first daughter in 2007, to try and balance being a full-time working mom and a career woman. I always felt though, that this chapter wasn’t done, so when the chance to return to Wilderness arose, I grabbed it with both hands and have never looked back. The company continues to challenge and inspire me, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this journey. Even though the last years have been tougher than most, I have never lost sight of what we do, and together we can achieve anything. It may be stormy now but it never rains forever.

In my new role as the Head of Reservations my goal is to ensure cohesion and collaboration across the Wilderness Group, and to inspire a culture of leadership and daily inspiration, while having fun doing it. We are embarking on an exciting chapter in our business, which I am so delighted to be part of. – Theresa