admin
“Hunting in Africa has the potential to earn countries huge money through increased tourist arrivals.
“Zimbabwe has the highest standards of hunting and it is the duty of the local hunters associations and other tourism stakeholders to market the country through the different forms of media,” he said.
Mr Lendrum said there was need for branding as part of the marketing strategies.
“Let people feel the love of Zimbabwe through the tactics of adverts, radio, expositions and brochures as they will market the country as the best tourist destination,” he said.
Mr Lendrum said Zimbabwe’s hunting industry had a lot of potential because most people were interested in hunting, adding that records indicated that the country was among the most popular hunting countries globally.
“There are high standards of professionalism but the only problem is that Zimbabwe is not well represented to an extent that some countries are bringing clients to Zimbabwe to hunt and benefiting from the country’s resources.
“Hunting industry should transform the tourism industry in Zimbabwe but it will need local hunting organisations to coordinate themselves and come up with ways to attract hunters,” Mr Lendrum said.
Speaking at the same occasion, chairman of the Operators of Professional Hunters Association of Southern Africa (OPHASA) Mr Emmanuel Fundira said hunting had a lot of potential though the illegal market was affecting the industry.
“The Chinese market is one of the country’s greatest markets at the moment as they believe rhino horn is medicinal hence they are prepared to pay $10 000 per horn,” he said.
He said the local hunting industry was lobbying the international community to allow the country to sell its stockpile of ivory.
“Hunting is also a conservation tool because if animals become too many, they end up killing each other to avoid sharing territories hence a loss to the country,” he said.
Mr Fundira said what was affecting the hunting industry was lack of professionalism as some people were doing backdoor trading charging ridiculously low prices thereby prejudicing the country.
“Surely, how can someone sell a buffalo at a mere cow’s price when those people will resell it for four times more?
“Those people will keep coming to trade in Zimbabwe to exploit more of our resources at our expense,” he said.
Online Reporter