Safari quote margin cheat sheet

1. Net costs, per person and per group

• Accommodation at your contracted net rates, with single supplements and child policies (calculator D07).
• Park and conservation fees per person per day, and vehicle fees. They change: price from the current published rates (calculator D04).
• Government levies and tourism taxes.
• Vehicles, fuel, guide days, transfers, flights and charter seats. Small aircraft have payload limits that change how many seats you can sell (calculator D02).
• Meals and drinks not in the lodge rate, and your policy on guide and tracker tips: included or not, say so.

2. Group costs are shared by the people who actually come

• Vehicle and guide costs are per group. Spread them over the real number of travellers, not the maximum the vehicle holds (calculator D06).
• Price a table for 2, 4 and 6 travellers. The two-person price is where margins quietly die.

3. Margin first, then gross up for commission

• Mark-up is not margin: a 25% mark-up is a 20% margin.
• If an agent or operator takes commission on the selling price: selling price = net cost / (1 - your margin - commission).
• Example: net cost 4,000, margin 15%, commission 20%: 4,000 / 0.65 = 6,154. Pricing it as net plus 35% (5,400) leaves 4,320 after commission: a 320 profit, about 6% instead of 15%. Calculator D01 does this for you.

4. Currency and time

• If you quote in one currency and pay suppliers in another, add a buffer or a reprice clause (calculator D03).
• Rates change at season and year boundaries: every quote needs a validity date.
• Deposits and cancellation terms should cover the deposits you pay your suppliers, and their release dates (calculator D05).

5. Before the quote leaves

• Every night counted, every park day counted, supplements and child rates applied, transfers in, commission in, tax in.

General guidance from DeskOS. Supplier contracts and current published fees always decide the real numbers.