Zambia’s four leading luxury safari lodges have come together under a new owner-led brand, the Zambia Luxury Lodge Collection (ZLLC), the company said in Lusaka on August 6.
The collection brings together Chichele Presidential and Puku Ridge in South Luangwa National Park, Lolebezi in Lower Zambezi National Park, and Lolelunga Private Reserve, a 30,000-hectare rewilding project north of Kafue National Park. ZLLC will take over direct sales, marketing and day-to-day management of the four properties from January 1, 2027, while continuing to work with existing partners including African Bush Camps, which has managed Lolebezi to date.
“This transition marks a defining milestone for Zambia Luxury Lodge Collection as we bring Chichele Presidential, Puku Ridge, Lolebezi and Lolelunga Private Reserve together under one unified commercial and operational vision,” said Jennifer Beattie, ZLLC’s director of sales and marketing. She said the brand would offer the international travel trade direct access to the properties from August 2026, supported by centralised contracting, reservations, sales and marketing, while retaining existing management partners as non-exclusive distribution partners.
Jopie van Rooyen, ZLLC’s group operations and quality control manager, said the shift to unified management would align service delivery across the portfolio while preserving each lodge’s individual character. “By bringing our properties together under one unified operational structure in 2027, we will strengthen quality, accountability and consistency while ensuring that each lodge retains its individual character and distinct sense of place,” he said.
Conservation work at Lolelunga has emerged as a central part of the collection’s identity. In 2026, the reserve reintroduced lions to the ecosystem for the first time in more than 15 years, translocating a male and female from Mukuni Big Five through Zambia’s first initiative to rewild captive-bred lions, delivered in partnership with the country’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and Ministry of Tourism. The project follows earlier work with the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative, which saw endangered cheetahs reintroduced to the reserve and the birth of three cubs, the first recorded on Zambia’s only fully fenced private reserve. Black rhinos are scheduled for introduction in the next phase of restoration.
Alongside the launch, ZLLC has appointed dedicated sales representation in the United States and United Kingdom, aimed at strengthening ties with the travel trade and media as demand grows for high-end safari experiences in Zambia.