Lupane State University to establish tourism and wildlife industrial park in Hwange

LUPANE State University (LSU) is in the process of establishing a tourism and wildlife industrial park in Hwange District, Matabeleland North, taking advantage of gaps that exist in the tourism sector.

Dubbed the Bingwa Ecotourism and Wildlife Innovation and Industrial Park, the facility is located 30KM along the Hwange-Victoria Falls Highway.

The training facility will provide research and educational tours, game drives, walking safaris as well as provide bed and conference centres in the tourism rich province among other things.

This is the second tourism facility that LSU is working on in the province as the institution is also expected to build a Tourism and Hospitality School in Victoria Falls.

Work is already in progress as Government has released $500 million for the construction of the tourism and wildlife innovation park.

It is part of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development’s implementation of Heritage Based Education 5.0 whose aim is to produce goods and services.

The country is projecting to develop a US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025 and the university wants to be part of the transformative story.

Ecotourism emphasises visits to unspoiled natural environments and is a high-value low volume subsector of the tourism industry.

LSU believes this is a lucrative sub-sector considering that 65 percent of tourism activity in Zimbabwe is nature-based.

Accordingly, over 13 percent of Zimbabwe’s land surface is used for wildlife conservation.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science and Technology Development Minister Amon Murwira yesterday said the project is part of Government’s initiatives to ensure LSU fulfils its mandate of being a dryland agriculture and wildlife tourism institution.

He said all dryland economic activities such research and innovations will be implemented at LSU which is already running a goat project.

“Now, we are developing a conservancy called Bingwa, 30KM outside Hwange towards Victoria Falls.

We are investing into this conservancy by building accommodation and all tourist issues around there as part of developing their capacity to train as well as do the Education 5.0 in the tourism and wildlife area,” said Minister Murwira.

“We have already given them the resources to start construction of that camp. So far, we have given them half a billion to finance this project. Our idea is that Education 5.0 is predictive to all these ideas and it is actually an Innovation and Industrial Park for Wildlife and Ecotourism just like we have an Agro innovation and Industrial Park.”

He said as LSU runs the project, surrounding communities are expected to benefit from employment among other downstream benefits.

Prof Murwira said implementation of such high impact projects will also contribute to the country’s industrialisation and modernisation as enunciated by President Mnangagwa.

“We expect the project to be embedded within our people. At that place we will train students, the people in the area are going to benefit from the tourists that are going to come there and some people are going to be employed there. We basically are spreading that capacity of industrialisation,” said Prof Murwira.

“We are spreading the Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabaninilo philosophy across the whole country. We are showing that education is not only about books but what happens on the ground. It is not only about knowledge but activities on the ground, it is about modernisation, it is about industrialisation of our country.”

LSU director of communication and marketing Mr Zwelithini Dlamini said the project fits within Government’s economic blueprint and National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 (2021-2025) and is a vehicle towards Vision 2030.

“The conservancy is anticipated to be operated as a viable business venture while at the same time being utilised for student learning fieldwork sessions for wildlife management, hospitality and tourism as well as renewable energy students,” said Mr Dlamini.

“The university is located in a semi-arid region (Agroecological region 4) suitable for wildlife conservation. Matabeleland North Province has several areas that have been set aside for the conservation of wildlife. Most of the areas were previously a hive of activity with tourism contributing significantly to the province’s Gross Domestic Product.”

He said with activities such as hunting slowly becoming contentious and frowned upon by animal rights groups, domestic tourism must be promoted and this implies providing services that are attractive and can be afforded by local people but remain attractive to the international community.

Mr Dlamini said it thus becomes relevant for the institution to lead in providing ecotourism activities while leading in research as mandated by higher and tertiary education to provide packages to provide diverse clientele.

“The project aims to commercialise wildlife conservation at the Bingwa Conservancy by setting up chalets, ecotourism camping grounds, and a small conference facility for accommodating tourists and researchers from local and international institutions. The project will generate revenue, knowledge and human capital,” said Mr Dlamini.

“The project has provided employment opportunities for the local community that is involved in the establishment and construction of the facility. After completion, manpower will be required for various posts at the Bingwa Wildlife and Ecotourism Innovation Park.”

He said the projects will close gaps that have existed in the country’s tourism sector where investment opportunities have not matched the projected growths.

“The investments in the Bingwa Wildlife and Ecotourism Innovation Park are increasing infrastructure available for ecotourism, conferencing facilities, and research in the region and the country,” he said.

Mr Dlamini said in line with the ministry’s mandate the It will also provide a hands-on human capital development platform for scholars in wildlife management, forestry, hospitality and tourism. -@nqotshili