Aquila Safari and Barmy Army announce official partnership for England’s 2026/27 tour to South Africa

Cricket, Cape Town and Big Five safari unite as Aquila partners with the Barmy Army for England’s 2026/27 South Africa tour.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, August 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Aquila Safari and the Barmy Army have announced a new partnership naming Aquila Safari the Official Cape Town Safari Experience Partner of the Barmy Army for England’s 2026/27 tour to South Africa.

The collaboration brings together international cricket, Cape Town tourism and Big Five safari travel as thousands of England supporters prepare to follow their team to South Africa.

With strong travel links between the United Kingdom and South Africa, the tour presents an important sports tourism opportunity for Cape Town and the wider Western Cape. Travelling supporters increasingly build holidays around major sporting events, extending stays to include food, wine, wildlife, culture and other destination experiences.

“This partnership celebrates everything that makes an England cricket tour to South Africa so special,” Aquila Safari and the Barmy Army said in a joint statement. “It brings together the passion of travelling cricket supporters, the energy of Cape Town and the bucket-list experience of a Big Five safari. For fans, the journey is about far more than what happens on the field.”

Cape Town has long been one of the most popular stops on international cricket tours, combining major sporting events with Table Mountain, the V&A Waterfront, beaches, the Cape Winelands, restaurants, nightlife and a wide range of visitor experiences.

The partnership will give travelling Barmy Army supporters an opportunity to add a Big Five safari to their Cape Town itinerary through dedicated Aquila Safari activations and offers during the tour period.

Located within easy road access of Cape Town in the Western Cape, Aquila Private Game Reserve provides day safari and overnight experiences on a malaria-free Big Five reserve. Its proximity to the city allows international visitors to combine a safari with a wider Cape Town holiday without requiring an additional domestic flight to another safari region.

For Aquila, the partnership forms part of a broader strategy to grow the Western Cape’s share of international sports tourism and encourage visitors attending major events to travel beyond the stadium.

“Major sporting tours have an economic impact far beyond match-day ticket sales,” the partners said. “Supporters stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, visit attractions, book tours and explore surrounding regions. The opportunity is to turn a cricket tour into a complete South African travel experience.”

The Barmy Army has been part of England cricket’s travelling support for more than 30 years, following the national team around the world and building a global community around cricket, travel and supporter culture.

Its presence has become synonymous with England overseas tours, with supporters travelling significant distances to attend matches while spending extended periods exploring host destinations.

South Africa has historically been one of the major destinations on the international cricket touring calendar, with Cape Town playing a particularly prominent role in the experience for visiting supporters.

The Aquila partnership is intended to connect that established cricket travel market directly with the Western Cape tourism economy.

“South Africa is one of the great cricket touring destinations, and Cape Town is one of the world’s extraordinary sporting cities,” the joint statement said. “We want supporters to make the most of their time here — before the match, after the match and beyond the boundary.”

The collaboration also reflects the growing commercial importance of sports tourism, where major fixtures act as catalysts for international travel and destination spending.

For tourism businesses, airlines, hotels, attractions and tour operators, travelling supporter communities represent a valuable market because sport provides both the initial reason to travel and a framework around which longer leisure itineraries can be built.

For Cape Town and the Western Cape, England’s 2026/27 tour provides another opportunity to showcase the destination to one of South Africa’s important long-haul tourism markets and to convert sporting interest into wider regional travel.

From cricket and Cape Town to the Winelands and Big Five safari experiences, Aquila and the Barmy Army want travelling supporters to see more of South Africa while they are in the country.

Come for the cricket. Stay for Cape Town. Go on safari with Aquila.

Johan van Schalkwyk
Aquila Collection
+27 83 441 2826
johan@aquilacollection.com
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Cape Town's Aquila Safari and Barmy Army collaborate to make cricket and safari a bucket list trip to South Africa.