Unwrap tourism secrecy

Economic Focus Gabriel Masvora
THERE is no doubt that tourism is one of the most important economic pillars of the economy and that is why Government has put in various enabling factors to ensure its success. It is also a huge employer and Victoria Falls is probably a living example of a town which has been built in Africa revolving around tourism. Almost everything in the resort town revolves around the attraction of the Victoria Falls showing how the works of nature can become a blessing to the country.

However, tourism is also one of those sectors which is thinly wrapped in a lot of secret dealings, resulting in many people starting to ask questions on whether the benefits in the sector are really transferred to the people especially those living around some of these sites.

Over the years it has emerged that behind the beauty that is normally associated with the sector, there are a lot of underhand dealings which are run mafia style- run by a few individuals who are busy lining up their pockets at the expense of the majority.
It is worrying that communities living around some of the tourist attractions, instead of benefiting, are watching as other people come to plunder what nature has given them.

Although the secrecy in tourism spread across all its sub-sectors, this year, the nation has once again been reminded of one sub-sector whose mystery and secrecy continue to baffle many.

It is the wildlife animal conservancy sub-sector. This is one tourism sub-sector many people have failed to really grasp how it works when in fact it is touted as one of the most lucrative.

Revenue raised from the sub-sector in Zimbabwe is rarely made public but a 2006 scientific paper estimated that trophy hunting generates gross revenues of at least $201 million per year in sub-Saharan Africa from a minimum of 18 500 clients.

The country sometimes never come to know about the figures in the hunting fiefdom because most of the transcations are processed outside the country with the money rarely finding its way into Zimbabwe.

The death of Cecil the lion which shocked most Western countries ranks as one of the examples of how the sector remains a mystery.
Walter Palmer, an American dentist is said to have paid $50 000 to shoot the lion in the Hwange area.

It was not only the money paid that shocked local people but the outpouring of cries over the death of the lion that came from Western countries with some of the citizens staging demonstrations over the killing of the lion.

In fact many local people right now still do not understand why there was such an outcry over the death of a lion.
It turned out that the lion was even a subject of study not by Zimbabweans but at a university in the US.
The university was not even working with any of our local universities dotted around the country.

Even after its death the lion received “condolence” money more than what some families have ever received when they lose relatives.
The money, once again, was not for anything to do with Zimbabwe but those who have pretended to have been aggrieved more by the death of Cecil.
Last week, three South Africans where caught trying to smuggle 30 sables out of Zimbabwe through an illegal point.

The animals were worth $435 000. It just shows that this is a sub-sector oozing with money which is, however, never divulged or known where it ends up.
If for just killing one lion, Palmer needed to pay $50 000, and with reports that many other animals are killed every year, how much is being raised in this tourism sub-sector and who is benefiting?

If some foreigners have the guts to cross into Zimbabwe and capture 30 sables and try to transport the animals across the border, how many more animals have been smuggled outside the country?

It is a sign that probably a lot of our animals are being smuggled out of the country without our knowledge. Some might be translocated legally but still this has never been something most people especially those around the parks know about.

It is said thousands of foreigners visit Zimbabwe every year for hunting animals in our own game parks while we have no idea what is happening or how much is being generated.
How much if any of the money is finding its way to people living around these animal sanctuaries who have sometimes lost their crops and domestic animals to some of them.
Our own people, if they kill just one sable probably after straying into their fields, it will be such a big issue and they would be arrested for poaching and jailed.

Zimbabwe has vast forests and national parks and is home to the Big Five and a host of other animals.
However, some people have apportioned themselves these forests and invite foreigners to hunt wild animals for their own benefit.
Most of the payments are done from outside Zimbabwe meaning most of the money is externalised.

We are rarely told who comes into the country for these secret hunting and midnight sessions.
Because the sector is seen as a preserve of the rich, some of the hunters use private jets and helicopters to fly into the country and we wonder what else they carry when they fly out as some of the forests have airstrips which are not necessarily always under control of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe.

More importantly the developments in the past few months have shown that this sub-sector is run under the secrecy of midnight darkness.
Government needs to move in to ensure that more light illuminates this industry. The country needs to start seeing what and how it is benefiting from wild animal hunted by these foreigners.

President Mugabe, once said, there might be lizards, lions or any animal for that matter, the truth is that as long as they are here they belong to Zimbabwe and its people.
If by any chance they are sold or hunted, why are the owners (Zimbabweans) not even aware of and why are they not being told of how much is raised and how the money is used.
These are some of the secrets which must be uncovered in tourism for it to become a big and transparent player in the economic matrix.