An analysis of Trophy Hunting Tourism Marketing Mix Performance of Zimbabwe

Timothy T Kuguyo,Edson Gandiwa

doi:10.22158/se.v7n1p28

Abstract

The study analysed the performance of trophy hunting tourism marketing mix activities in Zimbabwe in an attempt to improve tourism performance. Mixed methodology research comprising of 137 survey stakeholders and survey 274 tourists, one (1) focus group discussion and four (4) in-depth interview key informants was carried out from January 2019 to June 2019.Hunting quotas were based on the three regions, of Zimbabwe and Wildlife Management Authority, namely Southern Region, Western Region and Northern Region showing tourists type and stakeholder classes, and this was done. Quantitative data were analysed by correlation tests and one sample mean test values using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Qualitative data were synthesised using content and narrative analyses. The study indicated that Zimbabwe performed highly in terms of process, product, people and place marketing mix strategies in its trophy hunting activities. The results indicated a weak relationship between perceptions of local and foreign trophy hunting tourists on rating the marketing mix performance of Zimbabwe. Tourists and stakeholders were found to have a significant positive relationship in their perceptions of wildlife tourism performance of Zimbabwe. The test of trophy hunting acceptability showed a statistically significant and above average performance of Zimbabwe on trophy hunting marketing mix. The study concluded that, though Zimbabwe performs high on overall trophy hunting tourism marketing mix strategies, there was need for improvements on promotion and pricing strategies.

Highlights

The wonderful sight of African wildlife is an important factor in Zimbabwe’s tourism success
The results indicated a weak relationship between perceptions of local and foreign trophy hunting tourists on rating the marketing mix performance of Zimbabwe
The results were discussed starting with mean values, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions and hypotheses testing on overall marketing mix performance, correlations tests between local tourists and foreign tourists, and between all tourists and stakeholders. 3.1 Trophy Hunting Tourism Marketing Mix Performance of Zimbabwe 3.1.1 Trophy Hunting Tourism Marketing Mix Mean Value and Case Study (In-depth Interviews and Focus Group Discussions) Analysis Local tourists and foreign tourists rated the product mix on Zimbabwean trophy hunting

Summary

Introduction

The wonderful sight of African wildlife is an important factor in Zimbabwe’s tourism success. Large wild animals common in Zimbabwe are the elephants (Loxodontaafricana), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious), black and white rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and Ceratotherium simum, respectively), buffalo (Syncerus caffer), eland (Taurotragus oryx), sable (Hippotragus niger), kudu, (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), zebra (Equus quagga), giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), wildebeest (Connochaetestaurinus), tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus), Lichtenstein’s hartebeest (Alcelaphusbuselaphuslichtensteinii), roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus), nyala (Tragelaphus angasii) waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), lion (Panthera leo), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and leopard (Panthera pardus).Zimbabwe has more than 83 000 elephants (ZPWMA Report, 2017) This provides the Zimbabwean wildlife resources and associated trophy hunting wildlife tourism activities some global attention and focus as other nations monitor the existence of special concern species. The study objectives were as follows: (i) to analyse the overall trophyhuntingtourismmarketingmix performance of Zimbabwe; (ii) to determine the relationship between localtourists and foreigntourists on the trophyhunting tourismmarketingperformance of Zimbabwe and (iii) to examine the relationshipbetweentourists and stakeholders on their perceptions of trophyhuntingtourismmarketingmix

Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusion