The effects of COVID-19 on safari in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia

Author: Dominique Shenton Supervisor: David Scott Course: TR2005 - Bachelor Thesis in Tourism Studies Higher education credits: 15hp Date: 17th June 2021

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Abstract 2020 has seen many businesses across all industries struggle and, in some cases, shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic declared in March 2020 by the World Health Organisation. Perhaps the most affected industry was and still is the tourism sector, with a reported 100% of global destinations restricting in different senses (UNWTO, 2020). Various adaptation strategies have been adopted by businesses in the tourism industry to curb the negative economic impacts the pandemic has had. Some adaptation strategies that have been implemented in Zambian safari businesses include focusing on the domestic market which has not been a priority in the past. This research investigates some impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Zambian safari industry and analyses some strategies that have been adopted to adapt to said impacts. This has been done through semi-structured interviews with senior staff at four safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on lodges in South Luangwa National Park. It was found that all four lodges that were interviewed faced drastic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly in that they faced significant financial losses, low occupancy and temporary closure. The findings also showed that they were able to adapt in several ways, with the most significant being the shift from an international market to the emerging domestic market.

Key words , COVID-19, pandemic, Zambia, South Luangwa National Park, tourism, adaptation, crises

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, David Scott, for all of the engaging and encouraging discussions. I would also like to thank him for all of the guidance and patience during this process and during my entire 3 years at Dalarna University. A special thanks to all of the lecturers in the Management programme for your insights and interesting lectures. I would next like to thank my colleagues and classmates who became dear friends; Atina, Kasaye and Oscar.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my family for providing me with encouraging words, guidance and endless cups of tea.

Contents Abstract ...... 0 Key words ...... 0 Acknowledgements ...... 1 1. Introduction ...... 1 1.2 Purpose ...... 2 1.2.1 Aims and objectives ...... 3 1.2.2 Outline of the thesis ...... 3 2. Literature Review ...... 4 2.1 Crises ...... 4 2.2 Adaptation and adaptive strategies ...... 7 3. Methodology ...... 9 3.1 Methods ...... 10 3.1.1 Sampling method ...... 11 3.1.2 Sample description ...... 11 3.2 Context ...... 12 3.2.1 Zambia and South Luangwa National Park ...... 13 3.2.2 Immobility because of the COVID-19 pandemic ...... 15 3.2.3 Researcher positionality ...... 15 3.2.4 Consumptive and non-consumptive tourism ...... 16 3.3 Data collection ...... 17 3.4 Data Analysis ...... 18 3.5 Ethics ...... 19 3.6 Limitations...... 19 4. Findings and discussions ...... 21 4.1 Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic ...... 21 4.1.1 Crises and COVID-19 ...... 21 4.2 Lodges’ Adaption and strategies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ...... 23 4.2.1 Adaptation and adaptive strategies ...... 23 4.2.2 Domestic Market ...... 24 4.2.3 Future prospects ...... 25 5. Conclusion ...... 27 5.1 Future research ...... 27 References ...... 29 Appendices ...... 35 Appendix A – Interview ...... 35

1. Introduction The world started closing down in early March 2020 when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global pandemic and actions to try and contain the spread of the virus including lockdowns and quarantines were implemented. With the first COVID-19 lockdown implemented in China in January 2020, the implementation of lockdowns increased and by March 2020, many European, African and South American countries had enforced lockdowns (Koh, 2020). Across much of the world lockdowns resulted in the closure of all non-essential businesses and only kept grocery stores and pharmacies open (Koh, 2020; Atalan, 2020). Along with the national lockdowns, travel restrictions and bans were also implemented to try to contain the spread of the virus. As of May 2021, there are almost 170 million confirmed cases worldwide and more than 3 million deaths (Worldometer, 2021a). While several vaccines have been developed, there have been numerous new strains discovered as the virus continues to mutate (Bollinger and Ray, 2021). The discovery of new strains is causing the restrictions to still be implemented, despite having a vaccine (UNWTO, 2021).

While all industries have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism is said to have been hit the hardest of all major economic sectors (UNWTO, n.d.). The tourism sector is one of the most economically important (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2019). The pandemic has undoubtedly affected every industry, however, the impacts the COVID-19-pandemic would have on the tourism industry were hugely underestimated (Škare et. al, 2021). It has been established that the tourism industry is sensitive (Duan et al., 2021) and is particularly vulnerable to crises (Pforr, 2009). The reason for this is that the industry is highly influenced and dependent on many external factors such as “political instability, economic conditions, the environment and weather” (Okumus, Altinay and Arasli, 2005 in Ritchie and Jiang, 2019, p. 1). The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates over 60 million jobs were lost in the travel and tourism industry in 2020 (World Travel and Tourism Council, n.d.).

All countries that rely heavily on tourism have felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions (Baratti, 2020). However, as with significant other crises, countries with weaker economies have perhaps felt the effects more severely (United Nations, n.d.). Some developed countries have been able to subsidise their tourism industries and provide unemployment benefits to people in the tourism industry but this has not been the case in many developing countries (Tillväxtverket, 2020; UNWTO, 2020). In many Sub-Saharan countries where the tourism industry is a major contributor to the country’s economy and provides job security to

1 many people, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been pronounced. One such country is Zambia, where the safari industry ground to an abrupt halt with the global travel restrictions (Baratti, 2020).

Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa and has 20 national parks as well as 34 game management areas spread across the country. Tourism has been used in Zambia as a driver for economic development, with the annual tourism earnings increasing from K3.9 billion in 2014 to K4.4 billion (USD 401 million) in 2015 which shows the importance of tourism to the Zambian economy (Ministry of Tourism and Arts, 2016). The tourism industry in Zambia is largely made up of tours and photographic safaris (hereafter safaris, see section 1.4 for a detailed discussion) and while hunting tours generate a great deal of income, the tourism industry is centred around photographic safaris in many of the national parks.

From a social perspective, the safari businesses in Zambia provide livelihood for many Zambians in rural areas who would otherwise have to relocate to more urban areas in search of employment. Further, the prevalence of people i.e. safari lodges has meant that poaching is less active in these areas which has been extremely beneficial to populations.

This thesis will look at how previous crises impacted the businesses in relation to the COVID- 19 pandemic and the extent of the impacts. This thesis aims to investigate what role adaptation has had throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for the businesses. This will be done by studying previous crises and how they were managed in developing countries as well as seeing the result of the crises in the form of adaptation and adaptive strategies.

1.2 Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic having impacted every industry in the world provides many opportunities for interesting research possibilities. The purpose of this research in particular is to discover some of the many impacts the pandemic has had and still has on safari businesses in Zambia as well as to identify some of the adaptation strategies specific businesses have adopted as a result. As stated earlier (see section 1), Zambia has 20 national parks and many safari lodges spread across the country. In order to make this research manageable, I have chosen to focus on one of the main and most popular national parks; South Luangwa National Park. This research will be relevant to analysing the impacts and effects of COVID-19 and could be applicable to other safari businesses, domestic and international. The adaptation strategies analysis I will do may shed some light on adaptations and strategies that are used in

2 this crisis as they may be indicative of general strategies and adaptations that may be used in a crisis or they may be only specific to this crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.2.1 Aims and objectives The aim of this thesis is to research some impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on safari businesses in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia and how they may or may not have adapted.

In order to achieve this aim, two objectives have been developed, which are:

1. To explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park 2. To investigate how these safari lodges have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and what specific strategies they may have implemented in response to the effects of the crisis.

1.2.2 Outline of the thesis An introduction to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Zambia as well as their relationship to tourism were introduced in chapter one. Chapter two introduces the theories that were used as a framework for the research which were crises with particular consideration for the COVID- 19 pandemic, adaptation and adaptive strategies and lastly, . Chapter three discusses qualitative research and its suitability for this research as well as methods, context, data collection, data analysis, ethics and limitations of the research. Chapter four presents the findings and allows a discussion where their role is discussed in relation to the literature presented in chapter two. Chapter five concludes the thesis as well as offers ideas for future research.

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2. Literature Review The focus of this chapter is to explore four main concepts that are key to the objectives of this thesis. The chapter begins with a discussion on past crises as well as the current COVID-19 pandemic then goes on to explore adaptation to crises in tourism and adaptive strategies. After that, a discussion on domestic tourism and why a focus on domestic tourism is not always possible in some destinations. Lastly, an exploration into the concept of luxury and how it has different meanings to different people. These theories will be used as a framework for the interviews.

2.1 Crises Crises can mean different things depending on the context. For example, in a medical context, “a crisis refers to the critical phase of a patient’s fight with a deadly threat” and this meaning is about life or death (Boin and ‘t Hart, 2007, p. 43). In a more contemporary context, crisis can still be about life or death but does not have to be as hopeless as the former use (Boin and ‘t Hart, 2007). In short, crises can be thought of as when policymakers experience:

“a serious threat to the basic structures of the fundamental values and norms of a system, which under time pressure and highly uncertain circumstances necessitates making vital decisions” (Rosenthal, Charles and ‘t Hart, 1989 in Boin and ‘t Hart, 2007, p. 43).

This definition can be seen as being general and a more specific definition is offered by Beirman (2003)

“A crisis is a situation requiring radical management action in response to events beyond the internal control of the organisation, necessitating urgent adaptation of marketing and operational practices to restore the confidence to employees, associated enterprises and consumers in the viability of the destination” (p. 4)

Beirman (2003) definition offers a more holistic definition, taking into consideration various stakeholders. There are various forms of crises and they include war, genocide, invasion, terrorism, economic collapse and disease (The New Humanitarian, 2021). There have been a number of crises in modern history, from the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda to the 2003 invasion of Iraq to the ongoing climate change crisis (The New Humanitarian, 2021) that greatly affect not only the population of the country or region but also the global population in many different ways. It is important to look into past crises as they could deliver warning signs and could offer advice on how to handle current or future crises (Gössling, Scott and Hall, 2020).

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Societies and populations are affected by crises to varying degrees, and according to Rosenthal and Kouzmin (1997, p.277) industrial societies are more susceptible to “numerous and catastrophic events” for a few reasons. Firstly, the structures of organisations are becoming more complex (Wilson, 1975 in Rosenthal and Kouzmin, 1997). There are also “technological systems becoming even more interdependent, vulnerable, and problematic in their intended and unintended consequences'' (Perrow, 1984 in Rosenthal and Kouzmin, 1997, p. 277; Sagan, 1993 in Rosenthal and Kouzmin, 1997, p. 277). This means that the technology used in companies is becoming more dependent on each other and this creates vulnerability.

Green et al., (2010) studied the impact of the global economic crisis of 2008 on developing countries. In their study, they discuss how the informal sector in developing countries, where most people work, had suffered greatly and resulted in the people who work there even more vulnerable (Green et al., 2010). Men and women that work in this informal sector have “no regulation, no security, and no social safety nets” and this resulted in major unemployment and forced small businesses to shut down in Africa (Green et al., 2010, p. 9). The global economic crisis also affected individual households. In Ghana, measures such as reducing their children’s quality of education and making family food last longer were taken by local shea nut gatherers (Green et al., 2010). These measures of coping could naturally not be done over an extended period of time and are more suitable for relatively short-term crises such as the global financial crisis.

In the context of tourism industries in both developing and industrialised countries, crises can affect the tourism industry to varying degrees. For example, a natural disaster crisis might destroy tourist destinations or infrastructure that was discussed in an article by Rosselló et al., (2020), while a breakout of a disease might cause tourism to drastically slow down in a country or region as people are reluctant to travel to destinations with infectious diseases (Page, 2009). This being said, crises can also be an attraction for tourists to visit a particular destination. This can be seen in Iceland and Hawaii where tourists visit in search of erupting volcanoes (Ng, 2021). Visiting natural disasters such as erupting volcanoes, however thrilling, can be dangerous. This can be seen when New Zealand’s Whakaari volcano suddenly erupted in 2019 and killed 22 tourists and injured 25 (Ng, 2021). Crises, as can be seen in the examples above, have a huge impact in the development of destinations (Duan et al., 2021).

The crippling effects of a global crisis can be seen by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Duan et al., 2021). The effects of the pandemic have been felt across the globe, not least in the tourism industry that has seen a drastic loss of income. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to uncertainty 5 as the developments and impacts of the pandemic have been largely dynamic (Gössling et al., 2020). In Africa, more than 12 million jobs in the travel and tourism industry were lost as a result of COVID-19 in 2020 (Statista, 2020). To put this into context, the travel and tourism industry contributed just over 24 million jobs in Africa in 2018 (Škare et al., 2021). While the world economy faced a decline in output, the less developed region of Africa is likely to experience a significant recession and this is due to a disruption in the supply-demand mechanism and the dynamics of tourist arrivals (Škare et al., 2021). Škare et al. (2021) present three scenarios in their analysis of the impacts of COVID-19, the first being a lockdown from January 2020 to April 2020, the second being a continuation of the lockdown from April 2020 to August 2020, and finally the third scenario illustrates the effects of COVID-19 from August 2020 to December 2020. Scenario three seemed most realistic seeing as there are still lockdowns being implemented across the world. The third scenario mentions that “less developed regions like Africa […] could also experience significant recession” (Škare et al., 2021, p. 11) and this is because tourist arrivals are more dynamic in these regions due to climate and environment (Škare et al., 2021).

Recording their first two cases in March 2020, the Zambian government enforced several rules and regulations, limiting the number of people that could be in one place, making it a law to wear masks in public places and closing schools and churches. While it is still a law to wear a mask in public, churches and schools have opened, though restricting the number of people in one room at a time and enforcing social distancing measures. It has been mentioned that Zambia's economy and society are largely dependent on tourism and the lack of tourist activities in Zambia during the pandemic has heavily impacted the country. As of May 2021, there have been over 93,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Zambia with just over one thousand deaths (Worldometer, 2021b). There has been a high recovery rate in Zambia with over 91,000 recoveries from the coronavirus (Worldometer, 2021b). Figure 1 illustrates the daily new cases and the spike after the festive season in December. There is an overall decrease in daily new cases and an easing of lockdowns which will hopefully mean a more successful year in terms of tourism

Figure 1: Daily New Cases in Zambia. Source: Worldometer, 2021b.

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2.2 Adaptation and adaptive strategies Previous crises have resulted in the development and implementation of adaptive strategies (Reupert, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic, unlike other crises such as climate change that impacts over time, hit businesses and countries like a shock. There was little to no time for many countries and people to facilitate preparative measures. One of the main concepts that is explored in this research is adaptation. While adaptation and resilience concepts both cover processes of change, there are some key ways in which they differ so it is important to differentiate them. Ugbechie (2016) offers a definition of each concept, illustrating their difference:

“Adaptation refers to those crucial actions or plans that a community or household or individual will employ against a current or anticipated impact of climate whilst resilience refers to ability to recover (bounce back to the original state before the exposure to shock) from the effect of climate change” (Ugbechie, 2016).

While this definition relates to climate change, it is general enough to be used in other contexts such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, a study conducted by Wong-Parodi et al. (2015) found that “adaptation appears better for motivating individual action” and individual action has been an important part of adapting to the various COVID-19 restrictions and impacts. As the concept of resilience focuses on the ability to bounce back and recover to the original state, adaptation seems to be more fitting since it focuses on the current impacts and the COVID-19 pandemic is still on-going.

The process of individuals and communities making decisions to manage risk and moderate harm from perceived change is the process of adaptation (Eakin and Luers, 2006 in Nelson, 2011; Füssel, 2007 in Nelson, 2011; Smit and Pilifosova, 2001 in Nelson, 2011). Adaptation allows a household to bounce back faster from a shock (Schipper and Langston, 2015 in Bowen et. al, 2020). This ultimately reduces the vulnerability of businesses in terms of shocks.

Various strategies are adopted in the process of adaptation including pricing, an adoption of information and communication technologies such as virtual reality, and a focus shift of target market (Woyo, 2021). Woyo (2021) explores the use of domestic tourism as a recovery strategy in Zimbabwe which is considered a distressed destination and Zambia can be considered a distressed destination as well due to their similarities such as their focus on the international tourism market and their local population’s view that domestic tourism is expensive.

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A focus on domestic tourism has been vital in keeping certain tourism businesses alive during the COVID-19 pandemic (Haywood, 2020 in Sharma et al., 2021). In some cases, this has meant shifting the target market of a business (Weiser, 2020). It is, however, important to take into consideration the context. Woyo (2021) discusses the role that domestic tourism in Zimbabwe has had in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. As already established, Zimbabwe and Zambia are similar in many ways, including their tourism industry. The respective tourism products are not particularly catered to the domestic market but rather focus on the international market. They are aimed at the international market in terms of exclusive pricing, marketing and accessibility (Woyo, 2021). In a study conducted by Woyo (2021) it was concluded that for distressed destinations such as Zimbabwe, domestic tourism would not be a sustainable recovery strategy due to various government policies and legislations that make a focus on domestic tourism difficult and this can be said for Zambia as well.

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3. Methodology In the first part of this chapter, the discussion focuses on methodology, including the need to choose between a quantitative and qualitative methodology. In the second part of the chapter the focus turns to the methods chosen and the fieldwork itself. A subsection on context that discusses the study area, immobility, researcher positionality and a reflection on animals in tourism in this research is presented. Finally, data analysis is introduced and discussed.

In order to obtain any data, a suitable research approach must be chosen, and one of the main considerations in choosing a method is the choice between a qualitative and quantitative approach. A quantitative approach relies on data analysis and quantifying results and these results from a selected sample are used to generalize an entire population. On the other hand, qualitative research is usually based on first-hand gathering of data through various methods such as observation and interviews (Tracy, 2019). The aim of qualitative research is to try and understand relationships, cultures and so on by immersing the researcher in the field (Tracy, 2019). For this project, given the aims and scope of the thesis, a quantitative approach was not seen as suitable for numerous reasons. First, the number of safari lodges in the chosen location of the study is limited so the amount of data they would produce would not be enough to calculate and have meaningful conclusions. Secondly, the thesis aims to explore the knowledge and experience of fewer participants but in much more depth rather than having many participants, something Carlsen and Glenton (2011) give as a central feature of qualitative research. It was established early on that the author wanted to conduct interviews for this research as there was an interest in understanding others’ experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Equally as important as choosing the suitable research approach is to choose the most suitable research method. There are three main types on the spectrum of interview types: on one hand there are structured interviews which consist of mostly closed-ended questions and on the other hand there are unstructured interviews which consist of a more free-flowing conversation between researcher and participant (Adams, 2015). In the middle of these two extremes is semi- structured interviews which are a balance of structured and unstructured by including elements from both interview types (Adams, 2015). Like any other research method, semi-structured interviews have disadvantages and these are important to keep in mind when conducting the research itself but also when creating the interview guide. One disadvantage of semi-structured interviews is that the process is “time consuming, labor intensive, and require interviewer

9 sophistication” (Adams, 2015, p. 493) but this can also be said about all three interview types. Rather than having set questions, the author deemed it useful to have a set list of bullet points for each topic (see chapter 2 for the topics; see appendix A for interview guide) rather than having set questions as it allowed more flow in the conversation and allowed for a greater discussion between interviewer and participant.

Another methodological consideration is the restrictions on meetings and this limits the interaction between interviewer and participant as there is little to no nonverbal communication. During an interview, a lot of trust and rapport is built by the implications of the physical setting as well as the interviewers’ demeanour (Salmon, 2009). “When most nonverbal cues are unavailable, as is the case in text-based CMC [computer mediated communication] users adapt their language, style, and other cues such as purposes” (Walther et al., 2005, p. 37). While there has been a shift to doing more online with technological advancements, the COVID-19 pandemic propelled the shift. The interviews and the results may have been different if interviews could have been done in person.

Additionally, with any research that involves people, it is important to discuss their potential change of nature or behaviour when they are aware that research is being conducted (Veal, 2011). There are potential limitations in research if the participants’ actions are different from what they say. It is trusted that during the interviews, the participants were truthful and this was ensured to the best of the authors ability by making the participants’ identity anonymous.

Finally, it is important to consider the reliability and validity of any research, whether it be quantitative or qualitative. While reliability is associated with consistency, validity is associated with accuracy (Sirakaya-Turk et al., 2017) and it is of importance for the researcher to reflect on these two factors during the process of the research (Tracy, 2019). Since the participants’ identity and company were ensured to be kept private, the author deemed it perhaps more reliable as the participants would have no ulterior motive than to answer truthfully.

3.1 Methods

In a qualitative approach there are several different ways of sampling to obtain data. Using semi-structured interviews allows for deeper understanding of the research questions and is suggested to be the most appropriate method specifically when discussing sensitive topics (Miles and Gilbert, 2005). Researching topics to do with the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered a sensitive topic as it has impacted many personal lives and businesses. This was seen to be the most suitable method as the author wanted to gain in-depth, experiential

10 knowledge on the subject. Semi-structured, open-ended questions allow the researcher to begin analysing the responses during the interviews based on knowledge gained in the literature review. A qualitative, semi-structured interview approach also allows for an analysis and discussion of the results more directly related to specific contexts. In this case, the aims of the thesis are to explore how four specific safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park have been affected by and have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each safari lodge has a specific profile and set of circumstances that mean that within the context of the crisis, they have been able to adapt differently. With the semi-structured interviews there is a possibility to access this individual and context specific knowledge that would otherwise have been difficult to access with other methods.

3.1.1 Sampling method Sampling is the method of selecting participants for the research and there are several types of methods to choose from (Taherdoost, 2016). The most suitable type of sampling for this research was convenience sampling. Convenience sampling, also known as opportunistic sampling, is when samples are chosen because “they are convenient, easy, and relatively inexpensive to access” (Tracy, 2019, p. 83). While there are many benefits to convenience sampling, it is important to address the negatives. Convenience sampling can be considered lazy and not credible (Tracy, 2019). Convenience sampling was seen as the most suitable choice of sampling for this research due to the limited timeframe and scope.

The sample size for this research was four interviews and this number was decided on for several reasons. Firstly, there is a rather limited population size of camps in South Luangwa National Park. Secondly, the author felt like the safari lodges chosen were a fair and good representation of luxury and budget safari lodges. Lastly, there are several benefits of choosing a smaller sample size such as facilitating a close association between the researcher and the respondents (Crouch and McKenzie, 2006). The small sample size also allows the researcher access to in-depth information and knowledge (Crouch and McKenzie, 2006). This sample size will allow for a more detailed analysis with more information gained for each safari lodge, rather than doing perhaps a less detailed, larger sample size.

3.1.2 Sample description Each of the four safari lodges in the sample are located in the South Luangwa National Park and below follows a brief description of each safari lodge. While there are differences in rates between the safari lodges, they are considered exclusive due to their limited guest capacity in

11 combination with their unique location and photographic safari profile. There are some differences in the safari lodges in that two are marketed as more exclusive and have lower capacity than the two other safari lodges.

Lodge 1 is an owner-operated safari lodge with a capacity of 14 guests in 6 luxury chalets. It was established in the mid-90s and is a purely non-consumptive safari lodge. The rates for lodge 1 are all-inclusive and they offer some unique activities such as cycling safaris, game drives and walking safaris. Due to its remote location, it is inaccessible from November to May so the operating season is limited. This is considered the rainy season in Zambia and the roads get washed away every year and the safari lodge has to grade them every year in May when the lodge opens.

Lodge 2, established in the late 90s, offers 18 luxury chalets and is also owner-operated. Lodge 2 has a capacity of 36 guests, significantly more than lodge 1. They also run a purely non- consumptive wildlife-viewing operation and also have unique activities such as their bush spa, game drives and walking safaris. Unlike lodge 1, lodge 2 is open all year round as they are located closer to Mfuwe town. Though they are closer to a town than lodge 1, they still offer fantastic game viewing.

Lodge 3, also owner-run, has a guest capacity of 34 in 6 chalets, 6 tents and 2 private houses. Established in the 90s, they offer the standard activities such as game viewing and walking safaris. Lodge 3 is unlike lodge 1 and 2 in that it offers more variety of accommodation to suit different budget levels. Their offers include accommodation only, all-inclusive and so on. They operate all year round as they are close to Mfuwe town and tar roads that don’t get washed away with the rain.

Lodge 4 has a capacity of around 60 guests, offering a wide variety of accommodation options including luxury tents, chalets and facilities. The safari lodge offers accommodation only, self-catering and all-inclusive. Activities lodge 4 offer are walking safaris and game drives; however, they also arrange to the bush spa from lodge 2. Since they are also close to Mfuwe town and tar roads, they operate all year round.

3.2 Context The following subchapter focuses on setting the context for the research. This is important as it provides an overview of the unique characteristics of the spaces and places in which the research was carried out. This chapter begins with an overview of national parks in Zambia and goes on to a more detailed discussion of the area chosen for this research. Subsequently, I will discuss

12 immobility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and how this has affected the researcher and therefore the research. Following this, researcher positionality will be presented with the aim of providing the reader some necessary background on the author and motivation for the research and choice of topic. Lastly, a discussion on consumptive and non-consumptive tourism activities and their role in Zambia is offered.

3.2.1 Zambia and South Luangwa National Park Zambia is heavily dependent on tourism in a national economic, social and environmental sense. Of Zambia’s 752,614 square kilometres, about 30% is reserved for wildlife in one way or another (Zambia Tourism, 2021a). The 20 national parks in Zambia vary in size, from the massive Kafue National Park in the centre of Western Zambia that covers 22,400km2 to Mosi- oa-Tunya National Park located in Southern Zambia which is only 66km2 (Zambia Tourism, 2021a). Kafue National Park, founded in 1924, is the oldest and largest national park in Zambia and boasts rich wildlife populations with largely untouched areas because of its size (Zambia Tourism, 2021b). Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park is located in the popular tourist city of Livingstone which is also known for the Victoria Falls; one of the Seven Wonders of the World (Seven Natural Wonders, 2021). This national park was founded in 1972 and is unique as it is free from predators and is the only wildlife area with white rhinos (Zambia Tourism, 2021c). Figure 2 shows a map of Zambia and the larger national parks such as South Luangwa in the East and Kafue in the West.

Figure 2: Map of Zambia. Source: African Pride, 2012

South Luangwa National Park, founded in 1972, is 9059km2 and is the birthplace for the infamous ‘walking safari’ (Zambia Tourism, 2021b; Zambian Ground Handlers, 2021). Though it was formally declared a national park in 1972, the area was a protected for over 60 years before that, meaning it was never subjected to the effects of mass tourism (South

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Luangwa National Park, 2021). Because the area of South Luangwa National Park never experienced the “degradation of unregulated mass tourism”, it has sustained “its pristine wilderness” (South Luangwa National Park, 2021). Due to the protection and surrounding game management areas, the park has remained conserved and largely unspoiled and untouched by man (South Luangwa National Park, 2021). Unlike many other national parks in Zambia, South Luangwa largely consists of smaller, more intimate safari lodges (South Luangwa National Park, 2021). This can be attributed to its vast area and remoteness as it is far from big cities, unlike other national parks such as the Mosi-oa-Tunya.

Accessibility is a huge part of tourism in terms of infrastructure and facilities available at a destination (Eichhorn and Buhalis, 2011). There are four international airports located in cities around Zambia; Lusaka, Ndola, Mfuwe and Livingstone and smaller airstrips spread all over the country that cater to smaller airplanes including charters (Zambia Tourism, 2021d). Mfuwe International Airport was built to cater to South Luangwa National Park and “serves over twenty lodges and ” (Zambia Airports Corporation Limited, 2021). The vast majority of the tourists who go on safaris in South Luangwa National Park reach the park by plane through the Mfuwe Airport. The road access is limited due to the poor road condition and the great distance from larger cities such as the capital city Lusaka. The Mfuwe airport makes access to the national park possible, and while “airports are catalysts for tourism growth” as they make tourism destinations more accessible (Berti, 2019) they are seen to only serve those who can afford it which limits the accessibility to the entire community (Berti, 2019). This is certainly the case in Zambia, where accessibility is a major contributing factor to the tourism industry in the national parks in general.

Even with the airport and existing, if limited, road access to the national parks, accessibility is limited in other ways. The financial cost of going to a safari lodge in South Luangwa National Park is very high, especially in relation to the average income for local Zambian residents. Even though most safari lodges offer domestic rates to Zambian residents which are significantly lower than their international rates, the domestic rates are still, in most cases, prohibitively expensive for Zambian residents. The local residents who may be able to afford the domestic rates are often expats or people working for large companies, all of the very upper socio- economic class. This is the case in many southern African countries, where safari tourism is not accessible across socio-economic classes. For example, in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, one of the biggest safari destinations in Africa, the domestic rates are still prohibitively expensive to South Africans earning low wages. According to an article in the New York Times,

14 between 2011 and 2015, the average earnings for Black residents were 6,899 rand ($413) per month, while white South Africans, who tend to go on more safari , average earnings were 24,646 rand ($1,400) per month which is significantly more than what Black South Africans made. (Mzezewa, 2020). This highlights the discrepancy in income and accessibility to the safari destinations in South Africa.

Similar to the significant differences in socio-economic class in South Africa, Zambia also faces a huge wealth gap between the poor, working class population and the relatively small wealthy elite. For example, the international rates at one of the top safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park (not one included in the data sample for this paper) was USD 1695 per person per night all-inclusive and the domestic rate USD 400 in 2020 per person per night excluding bar. By comparison, the minimum wage in Zambia in 2020 was between ca USD 43 - USD 147 (Koyi, 2021). Even though the domestic rates for this safari lodge were roughly a quarter of the international rates, it is still not remotely affordable for Zambians working low paid jobs.

3.2.2 Immobility because of the COVID-19 pandemic Worldwide travel restrictions and lockdowns massively affected the tourism industry but the COVID-19 pandemic also affected mobility (Warren and Skillman, 2020; Gössling et al., 2020). Research conducted by Warren and Skillman (2020) measured mobility by evaluating the geolocation of populations during the day, in other words, measuring the amount of travel done by a population during a day (Warren and Skillman, 2020). Their research showed that peoples’ mobility around the world were affected and these restrictions on mobility are associated with government directives and rules regarding mobility (Warren and Skillman, 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the author’s mobility. Since the author studies and therefore lives in Sweden, the plan was to conduct the research for the thesis in Sweden but this wasn’t possible as travel restrictions and uncertainty resulted in the author staying with her family in Zambia. Furthermore, the author had planned to travel to South Luangwa National Park to conduct the interviews in person but this was not possible due to domestic travel and gathering restrictions at the time of the research, as well as personal safety concerns for contracting COVID-19.

3.2.3 Researcher positionality In any research, the researcher will inevitably be affected and influenced by their own cultural background, thoughts, culture, race, nationality (Holmes, 2020). The researcher’s positionality

15 is important to address and discuss as it affects “how research is conducted, its outcomes, and results” (Rowe, 2014 in Holmes, 2020, p. 2). There are several aspects of my own background and cultural context that have affected my engagement with and in this research. Firstly, I am originally from Zambia, and many members of my close and extended family are employed in the tourism industry in Zambia. This has led me to have an awareness of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the individual level in many different ways. I find it important to also make clear that I am a young, middle class, white Zambian. As such my experience of the safari industry in Zambia has been from the perspective of a white Zambian whose family members are employed as senior or management level staff or are in some cases owners of safari lodges themselves. This means that I do live with a level of privilege in terms of access to knowledge and information as well as, for example, the economic effects felt by my immediate family due to loss of income are not as financially devastating as they might be for someone, for example, working a minimum wage position in the same safari lodge as someone of a similar background to my own. The fact that I have access to the senior management staff at these safari lodges meant that I was able to access a great deal of data such as occupancy rates, strategies and so on that I may not have been able to access had I interviewed a junior staff member. On the other hand, the data gathered does only reflect the experiences, opinions etc. of a senior staff member, and this may be greatly different from the experiences, opinions etc. of a junior staff member.

3.2.4 Consumptive and non-consumptive tourism When discussing context, it is worth discussing the safari lodges and their role in the complex concepts of consumptive and non-consumptive tourism. While there are many definitions that could be adopted here, for the purposes of this thesis the following, inclusive, definition will be adopted. Consumptive tourism is seen to involve or “features a direct intervention on an animal (in most cases killing – although it is not always the case owing to the possibility of failure or the desire to save the animal for reasons of compliance with regulations or ethical norms)” (Tremblay, 2001, p. 82). On the other hand, non-consumptive tourism is usually associated with wildlife-viewing (Tremblay, 2001), with the aim of not physically harming wildlife. However, it is important to note that all tourism activities are consumptive to some extent. For example, consuming culture during a historical tour of a city or even just consuming the local food during a trip. In southern Africa, viewing wildlife and sport or trophy hunting are both forms of tourism that are important to wildlife and they are often practised side by side (Novelli et al., 2006). There is indeed, an importance for both consumptive and non-consumptive tourism. Consumptive and non-consumptive tourism activities often complement each other and work

16 well together when managed correctly (Tremblay, 2001). In Zambia, there are game management areas, or GMAs, that surround the national parks and act as a sort of buffer for people, wildlife and the movement of these two. Sport or trophy hunting is restricted to the game management area and is not allowed to take place inside the national parks (Zambia Travel Guide, n.d.). Photographic and wildlife-viewing tourism activities take place in the national parks and this allows both consumptive and non-consumptive tourism to take place without negatively affecting each other (Zambia Travel Guide, n.d.).

3.3 Data collection The data for the research was collected from March to May 2021. Before the interviews were conducted in May, extensive reviews of secondary data, in the form of academic articles, websites as well as reports, allowed the author to gather knowledge about the topics discussed in the literature review. This knowledge also allowed the author to further discuss the topics with the respondents during the interviews which granted a deeper and more interesting discussion. The safari lodges that were picked for this study were done so by creating a list with the safari lodges the author was familiar with, practicing convenience sampling, and categorizing them by budget level. After initially contacting the lodges, one of the owners was unavailable but gave me another contact at their lodge I could interview. After that, four safari lodges were chosen. The primary data was gathered during the month of May and it was collected via three Zoom meetings and one phone call that were all recorded and were later analysed.

An interview guide was constructed in order to keep track of the course of the interview and also to maintain the conversation flow, as well to ensure that data could be collected to explore the aims of the thesis. The talking points were designed to elicit data on the two main objectives, with the first topic addressing the first aim of the paper, namely to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park. The subsequent three topics addressed the second aim of the thesis; to investigate how these safari lodges have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and what specific strategies they may have implemented in response to the effects of the crisis. In the interview guide which can be found in appendix A, there are bullet points with the main topics, and subtopics below them.

Because there were, at the time of data collection, restrictions in Zambia regarding physical meetings, the interviews aimed to be conducted on Zoom. This proved to be easier said than done, however, due to the unstable internet connections with some of the more remote safari

17 lodges. As this was a predicted issue, telephone interviews were offered to the participants as well.

Furthermore, some of the lodge owners were not available for several reasons. The owners of one safari lodge were abroad on annual leave but they gave me contact details of the Human Resource manager of their lodge that I could interview. The owners of another lodge were getting their lodge set up for the season so were not available to be interviewed when I had planned. This altered the timeframe and delayed the findings and discussion chapter completion.

Below is a table of participants that shows each participant under a pseudonym, their position at the safari lodge as well as a lodge number.

Participant Pseudonym Role Company

1 Robert Owner Lodge 1

2 Ben Owner Lodge 2

3 Tim Human-Resource manager Lodge 3

4 Brad Owner Lodge 4

Table 1: Table of participants with pseudonyms and positions at safari lodges.

3.4 Data Analysis According to Bogdan and Biklen (1997), “data analysis in qualitative research is defined as the process of systematically searching and arranging the interview transcripts, observation notes, or other non-textual materials that the researcher accumulates to increase the understanding of the phenomenon” (Bogdan and Biklen, 1997 in Wong, 2008, p. 14). This process is essentially sorting and categorizing the raw data that was collected during the data collection. It is sorted in order to present a clear and thorough findings and discussion chapter. There are naturally various data analysis tools that can be adopted and which one is chosen depends on the study (Wong, 2008). Before analysing and categorizing the data, it is important to organize it (Tracy, 2019). This is very individual and dependent on preferences, I listened to the recordings of the interviews and reread the notes I made on each Interview Guide that I had printed for each interview. This helped me gather my thoughts and ideas for the findings and discussion.

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Once collected, the interviews were partially transcribed before being analysed using phronetic iterative analysis (Tracy, 2019). This type of analysis allows the researcher to go back and forth between emergent qualitative data and existing theory giving the researcher an understanding of the interviewee’s world view (Tracy, 2019). The responses gathered were then analysed in relation to the literature review established in chapter 2.

3.5 Ethics Ethics are known ‘rules’ that exist in societies that allow people to distinguish acceptable or unacceptable behaviour (Resnik, 2020). While these ethical norms are often taught at home, schools or other social settings, people also learn them through experiences in life and as they grow and mature (Resnik, 2020). Ethics are important to consider as they “help researchers grapple with the ethical dilemmas they are likely to encounter” (Resnik, 2020).

The Code of Ethics from the American Sociological Association (ASA) was followed throughout the interviews and research. Embedded in the field work for this research were the ASA Code of Ethics which include Professional Competence; Integrity; Professional and Scientific Responsibility; Respect for People’s Rights, Dignity, and Diversity; Social Responsibility; and Human Rights (ASA, 2018). The names of the participants and the names of the safari lodges they work for or own will be kept private as some topics may be considered sensitive and this allows for more unrestricted responses. Pseudonyms have been created for each of the four participants (see chapter 3.3) Furthermore, both written and verbal consent was acquired from the participants for the purpose of recording the interviews and having their answers analysed in my thesis. The research also adhered to the guidelines from Etikprövningsmyndigheten. The data gathered was handled with consideration for the General Data Protection Regulation which was given by Dalarna University (Dalarna University, 2020).

3.6 Limitations There are naturally limitations with any research and “no study is completely flawless or inclusive of all possible aspects” (Editage Insights, 2019). Having this in mind, this section will go on to identify and discuss the limitations of this study. The researcher is the instrument in qualitative research and this makes it important to consider the researcher's “personality, demographic background, traits and preferences” (Tracy, 2019, p. 15). This possible limitation, however, was addressed in chapter 3.2.3 by discussing the author’s personal role and background in this research.

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Another factor to consider is that both the interviewer and the participants’ videos were off during the Zoom interview. This was done to ensure maximum reliability of the internet connection which is usually unreliable in remote locations such as South Luangwa National Park. That brings me to the next limitation which is the unstable internet connection. In general, the internet available in Zambia can be unreliable at times. This means that while the connection could be good at the start of an interview, it might drop at times and this causes loss of data. Thankfully, the internet connection during all four interviews was consistent enough to carry out the interviews without too much disruption. This being said, there were a few disruptions due to remoteness of some of the participants and the limited internet connectivity available in their locations. This at times disrupted the flow of the conversation in a minor way that would not have been present in an in-person interview.

There is naturally a time limit on the research and this may be seen as a limitation. With more time to complete the research, more interviews and more time would have been spent on researching and reading more literature. This would have produced a larger findings and discussion chapter.

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4. Findings and discussions This chapter presents the findings from the research and a discussion on their relation to the literature introduced in chapter two. The findings are discussed under subheadings of each of the two aims of the thesis that were explored during the interviews through the four topics; crises and COVID-19, adaptation and adaptive strategies, domestic market and lastly future prospects.

4.1 Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic Globally, tourism has without a doubt been drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as other crises have affected the tourism industry before (see chapter 2.1). In the context of non- consumptive wildlife-viewing safari lodges in Zambia, the data gathered during the interviews indicated that the effects of the pandemic were far reaching.

4.1.1 Crises and COVID-19 As long as tourism has existed, there have been events and crises that intermittently disrupt the tourism industry in a particular place. Taking a more holistic definition of a crisis such as Beirman (2003) allows for a more holistic understanding of the effects of a crisis on many different levels and from different perspectives. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly been a crisis that demands a holistic approach when considering the impact on the global population and its many different industries in general, and the global tourism industry specifically. In the South Luangwa National Park, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could be felt by all four participating safari lodges. For example, Robert stated that the inbound international tourism market had faced a devastating impact, however, local tourism saw a boost. Similarly, Ben confirmed that their turnover rate for their lodge from 2020 was less than 5% of the turnover rate of 2019. Ben stated that the pandemic has had a huge impact on their business in particular and tourism more generally. He also said that while 2020 had a significant drop in bookings, 2021 was also steadily worsening.

During the interview with Tim, he mentioned that they had to decrease their employee salaries by 70% due to the lack of influx of tourists. Another impact Tim talked about was that the cost of living has significantly increased in Zambia and even local produce such as sugar and oil have seen an increase in price. This, in combination with staff salary reductions, had a great impact on staff living conditions.

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Green, King and Miller’s (2010) paper on the effects of the Global Financial Crisis on the informal sector pointed out that people relying on employment in the informal sector were disproportionately impacted by the crisis at the time. While the workers of the safari lodges aren’t in the informal sector, they can be seen as vulnerable as there are no social safety nets or security, partly because of the seasonal nature of the employment offered to staff employed in the safari industry in Zambia and partly because the staff do supplement their wages with tips from tourists, as confirmed by Brad in his interview. Brad also said that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been like a snowball effect, affecting everyone in the informal sectors in Mfuwe town such as hairdressers and bars and this was discussed in Green, King and Miller (2010). Baratti (2020) discussed the issue of destinations being largely dependent on tourism and how they have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was something Brad mentioned in that the Mfuwe area is one hundred percent reliant on tourism so they have seen a devastating loss. Brad stated that they have had an 85% decrease in occupancy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As previously discussed, crises have always been around and can have both negative and positive impacts on the development of destinations (Duan et. al, 2021). Looking at past crises can offer reconsideration of current systems and raises questions on how they operate (Gössling, Scott and Hall, 2020). When asked about former crises that have affected their businesses, Robert mentioned the Global Financial Crises saw their safari seasons of 2009 and 2010 suffer a loss of incoming tourists. This being said, Robert stated that their lodge still managed to operate and didn’t have long periods of no guests which is the case now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Ben also stated that there has not been any crises or event that has had the same effect or longevity as the COVID-19 pandemic has had on tourism and businesses.

Tim mentioned flooding in past years had delayed their lodge opening and the presidential elections have affected their bookings in the past, but no impacts were of similar magnitude as the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Brad stated that there have been floods in the past that have affected business but nothing to this effect and longevity in Zambia before and the change happened overnight. As discussed by several authors (Gössling, Scott and Hall 2020; Rosenthal, Charles and ‘t Hart, 1989) uncertainty is one of the main consequences of a crisis, and this holds true with the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis as it too has caused uncertainty. This was apparent in the numerous opening and closing of lodge 3. Tim said that they didn’t open in March 2020 as planned, they opened in July as they had local bookings, they closed again in

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August, opened for a short time in October and closed again, and finally opened again in March 2021.

4.2 Lodges’ Adaption and strategies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic Adaptation is an important part of proactive planning for events such as crises which allows for mitigating long term impacts (Reupert, 2020). There are various forms of adaptation and adaptive strategies that companies can adopt and these will be explored in this section.

4.2.1 Adaptation and adaptive strategies Results of crises and pandemics are adaptation and adaptive strategies (Reupert, 2020). All four participants said their lodges had created special rates or packages to try and attract the domestic market. While all of the four safari lodges did create packages, not all of them were as successful as others. Robert mentioned that their lodge is not very well-known in the domestic market and this made it difficult to reach, though they did get a few local bookings for 2020. He said that they rely and target the international market significantly more than the domestic market. Furthermore, since their lodge operates seasonally, their overhead and operating costs are higher and this means that they cannot reduce their rates much perhaps as other safari lodges that operate year-round.

The COVID-19 pandemic naturally affected international travel and this impacted the four lodges as well. Ben stated that their lodge has experienced over 90% decrease in international guests in 2020, and the 2021 season is looking at a similar decrease. Another form of adaptation that Weiser (2020) discussed is shift of target markets and this was mentioned by Tim during the interviews. He said that their lodge’s target market shifted from international and domestic before the pandemic, to almost entirely domestic during the pandemic. Another adaptive action lodge 3 has taken is to reduce their 2021 domestic rates to the bare minimum in hopes of attracting more local tourists for this operating season.

As more countries reopen their borders, international travel resumes. For example, Brad said that their lodge was entirely reliant on the domestic market until a few days before the interview was conducted when Malawians were able to travel. This being said, Brad stated that the ratio of international to domestic market was 1:99. Brad also said that they have had to adapt to an “affordable resident rate”. To put that into perspective, their most expensive room they offer was $150 per person per night before the pandemic and the same room is now going for ZMW350 which is $15.50.

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4.2.2 Domestic Market In many instances, international tourism has dropped drastically due to travel restrictions (United Nations, n.d.) while some places have seen a boost in domestic tourism. After the discussion on adaptation, the conversations shifted towards the domestic market. Robert stated that “there should be some focus on the development of local tourism but it needs to be affordable for the operators and clients”. Due to their remote location, Robert also said that they are responsible for grading of roads to make their lodge accessible and costs like these make it difficult for them to reduce their operating costs and make it affordable for the local market. As for the second part of the topic which had to do with the role of a destination management organisation (DMO), Robert said that it is important to have zoning in a destination. This makes a destination more attractive to different markets and creates options for different clients’ requirements.

Ben mentioned that their lodge has “always done good international business and we’ve also always done good local business”. In other words, their- lodge did not have to shift their target market focus as much as other lodges perhaps who relied only on international tourists. In general, Ben said that Zambia does have a big focus on the domestic market.

Tim stated that there should be a focus on a domestic market and it has been shown by the pandemic that destinations cannot rely entirely on international markets. Tim also mentions that there should be a greater focus on promoting tourism within Zambia. He states that there is already a focus on the domestic market in Zambia with the Tourism Association of South Luangwa having recently put together a team to look into that and aim to produce a package including South Luangwa and the Lower (another one of Zambia’s national parks).

When asked about domestic tourism, Brad mentioned that there was no focus prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but there should be. He also mentioned, however, that the pandemic made residents and local people do longer trips around Zambia and this promoted domestic tourism. Brad stated, with regards to the second subtopic about the role of a DMO, that the Luangwa Safari Association has been running a campaign promoting Zambia as “Zambia is open”.

The shift in focus from an almost exclusive international tourism market to recognising the domestic market is most certainly one outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic. This reflects research previously done by Haywood (2020) in Sharma, Thomas and Paul (2021) where domestic tourism has kept some tourism businesses alive throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As recognised by Robert, during the interviews, a focus on the domestic market is not always

24 possible. This was further discussed in Woyo (2021) research that concluded domestic tourism would not be suitable for reasons such as government policies and legislations. However, none of the interviewees seemed to be conscious of the fact that the domestic market in Zambia is rather limited to a small socio-economic class of residents who can actually afford the rates, even if they are greatly reduced in comparison to pre-COVID-19 pandemic rates. The huge wealth gap in Zambia and many other southern African countries means that even as there is a shift in focus to the domestic market, it may still not be accessible due to financial inequalities, as described previously by Mzezewa (2021).

4.2.3 Future prospects As a concluding part of the interviews, the conversation was directed to the future with the intention of gathering data on potential long-term strategies and adaptations. Robert was hopeful that the latter part of their operating season would be busier with some confirmed bookings. He also stated that they have some repeat guests that are more inclined to travel during these times than new guests. In regards to tourism recovery in Zambia, Robert said that they have received no aid from the government or any international aid. Robert also mentioned that the fixed government fees for having safari lodges in the national parks were reduced by fifty percent in 2020 but no reductions in fixed fees for 2021.

As for the future, Ben said that they are not planning to take any further actions but this season is looking relatively better than the 2020 season. He, similar to Robert, said that the later part of the season is looking more promising but he said that their lodge would normally do over 1000 bed nights in June, and they will be lucky if they get even 20% of that.

During this final part of the interviews, Tim, similarly to Robert, also mentioned returning guests that have booked to visit their lodge this year. Furthermore, Tim stated that they had many postponed trips that look hopeful for June. Regarding tourism recovery in Zambia, Tim mentioned that they have not received any government aid but did receive an international aid which aided in paying the staff at the safari lodge.

Brad remarked “tourism is one hundred percent reliant on people, bums in beds!” so it is hard to predict. As for the tourism recovery, Brad stated, similarly to Tim, that they had not received any government aid but they did receive an international aid in 2020 which helped in keeping their staff paid and employed. None of the interviewees gave specific details regarding how much financial aid they received, if any, though one interviewee did indicate that it was a relatively low amount in comparison to the total cost of operating a safari lodge for a season.

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The lack of government support is definitely something that affects the Zambian safari industry in a negative way and leaves them in a precarious situation where they have to make their own solutions and applications for international aid in a way that, for example, many European tourism industries have not had to.

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5. Conclusion The main findings of this thesis showed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to have been significant in the context of safari lodges in South Luangwa National Park. Safari lodges have suffered an almost total shutdown of their international markets and the bulk of their income. This has had devastating effects on the individuals employed at the safari lodges interviewed as the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected other aspects of daily life such as living costs going up and reduced staff salaries.

While the safari lodges have undoubtedly suffered great financial losses during this crisis, as is the case in most crises that affect tourism historically, the Zambian safari industry has adapted in several important ways. The main adaptations have been to shift to an appeal to the domestic market where possible. This has meant lower rates and income for the safari lodges, but has allowed them to retain their staff, if at lower wages.

Furthermore, the interviews highlighted the importance that aid has had in keeping their businesses up and running. While none of the four lodges received any government aid from Zambia, some did receive aid from international organisations.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing it remains to be seen which effects will continue to have the most impact on the industry and which adaptations and strategies will have been the most effective in the short, medium and long term.

This research will contribute a meaningful insight to the safari industry and the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on it, specifically in remote places in developing countries where there is limited research. Furthermore, this research highlights the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by looking into the upcoming safari season in South Luangwa National Park.

5.1 Future research According to the 2014 census there were 40,000 white residents in Zambia, or roughly 0.3 percent of the population, with a total minority population of less than one percent, and yet the domestic tourism market is still very small compared to the international tourism market, even during the pandemic. This thesis mentioned the financial limitations that restrict access to the domestic safari tourism options in South Luangwa National Park, but could not encompass any other socio-economic and cultural aspects to this issue. Further research into these aspects from

27 a, for example, post-colonial perspective would give valuable insights into the domestic tourism culture in Zambia and who has access to it and who does not.

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Appendices

Appendix A – Interview Guide Introduction Dalarna University, International Tourism Management My research Privacy and recording Respondents position in company Crises – COVID-19 How affected has Zambian tourism been by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Other crises/pandemics in Zambia? Similar to COVID-19? Scale?

Adaptation Shift of target markets?

Bed nights?

Rates? Domestic Market Should Zambia focus/is there already a focus on domestic?

Role of DMO?

Future? (More) actions?

How is this tourism season looking?

Tourism recovery in Zambia?

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