Africa could earn $30bn from wildlife tourism if it received support

Meeting in Victoria Falls last week at the African Union-UN wildlife economy summit hosted by Zimbabwe, tourism players said if wildlife tourism received the support it needed, Africa would earn $30bn from the global tourism economy, a tenfold increase.

"We need to build a comprehensive industry that includes tourism, hunting and products," said wildlife specialist and economist Brian Chaltz.

Delegates at the summit were told Southern Africa alone had at least 100 game parks, but only 10 were performing well.

Hwange National Park, part of the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area, which includes parts of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola and Zambia, was cited as an example of a failing project.

"Some of the game parks, such as the Hwange National Park, are overpopulated. Most of the species have grown more than 16 times [in number] yet there is no growth in economic value attached to the wildlife resource," Chaltz said.

Lifting the international ban on ivory sales could provide the money to improve conservation and develop the wildlife and tourism industry as a self-sufficient sector, he said. Zimbabwe alone has a $600m stockpile of rhino and elephant horns.

"If we develop our national parks and involve communities in wildlife management we can turn them into profitable businesses and no-one will criticise us," said Chaltz.

Andrew Parker, operations director at African Parks, which manages 15 national parks and protected areas, said tourism on the continent was not globally competitive because countries were not doing enough to develop it.

"About 18 countries in Africa, out of 55, really see the potential wildlife tourism has. They have an inside chance to move over to a $30bn economy in about 10 years' time," he said.

But Emmanuel Fundira, president of the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe, said: "We don't have enough market reach and we are not processing or adding value to wildlife. That's the big letdown."

According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, Morocco, SA and Tunisia are the top tourist destinations in Africa by visitor numbers.