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A Qualitative Study on the Potential Obstacles in The ijcrb.webs.com SEPTEMBER 2013 INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS VOL 5, NO 5 A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL OBSTACLES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS IN ZIMBABWE Jeanette Tsikadzashe Matina¹, Beh Yean Shan*²,Nik Ahmad Ridzaffi Taqriz Shah³ ¹Student, International Hotel and Tourism Management, School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Culinary Arts, KDU College, Penang, Malaysia. *²Lecturer, Tourism Management and Development, School of Tourism, Berjaya University College of Hospitality, Level 11, West, No. 1, Jalan Imbi, Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ³Lecturer, Event and Tourism Management, School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Culinary Arts, Taylors University Lakeside Campus, Selangor, Malaysia. ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to examine the potential obstacles challenging the development of national parks in Zimbabwe. The research‟s initiative was driven primarily by the serious poaching crisis in Zimbabwe. The maintenance of these national parks becomes a major issue, a major challenge for the government and authorities concerned. The study focuses on the potential obstacles of development for national parks in Zimbabwe from various stakeholder‟s perspective. Data collected was analyzed with categorization and affinity group analysis. The findings and discussions of the study were presented according to its theme. A total of five potential obstacles were identified and discussed by both governmental and non-governmental bodies (NGOs). This study had successfully gathered the insights of both authorities and NGOs on the challenges faced by these national parks and had also gathered some proposal of solutions from both parties to overcome the identified challenges. Keywords: OBSTACLES; NATIONAL PARKS; ZIMBABWE COPY RIGHT © 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 457 ijcrb.webs.com SEPTEMBER 2013 INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS VOL 5, NO 5 1. INTRODUCTION The world has continued to join as a union front over the years. As the largest market in the world to draw in the most revenue annually, the tourism industry brings in a combined $3 trillion worldwide (United Nations World Tourism Organization, UNWTO, 2012).Tourism was the way people moved towards certain places away from the regions they reside, they participate in leisure excursions during their time of stay, and facilities are made available to look after them during their stay (Mathieson and Wall, 1982 as cited in Wamwara and Cornwell, 2008).The tourism industry is probably one of the world„s highest grossing industries, and over the years it has managed to create over thousands of jobs to individuals in most developing and developed countries (World Travel and Tourism Council, WTTC,2012).There are a total of eleven differently located National Parks in Zimbabwe, Chimanimani National Park, Chizarira National Park, Hwange National Park, Kazuma National Park, Mana Pools National Parks, Matusadona National Park, Matopos National Park, Victoria Falls National Park, Zambezi National Park, Nyanga National Park and Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe boasts as a strong hold in the tourism Industry. All the National Parks are strategically located to ensure the number of visitors to all national parks is equally dispersed(Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authorities, 2013). According to Nyaguse (2001) who studied on the national parks in Zimbabwe and its influences on the tourist numbers, he reached a conclusion that most national parks in Zimbabwe despite the scenery located in the national parks were developed to protect and preserve the wildlife, whilst others were developed to help preserve the ecosystem.The main focus of the economy fell solely on the structures in the country and not solely on the activity to revive the tourism industry in Zimbabwe.Table 1.1shows that in 1998, Zimbabwe was ranked as the 10th top African Countries to earn the most. However, tourist numbers over the years has dropped drastically, as shown in the table 1.2 and there followed by figure 1.1that evidenced that the numbers of tourist arrivals over the years has fallen. As a result of low tourist arrival, the economy also suffered a drastic blow.Table 1.2 illustrates the tourist arrivals during the period of 2003 – 2011. These statistics showed the numbers of arrivals into the country dropped as the years went on. As a result of poor management, the economy has continued to fall and this might be caused by the political issues that the country went through in the last couple of years. Tourist arrivals were relatively low throughout the time as people were skeptical in travelling. Figure 1.1 evidenced the numbers dropping in arrivals over the years that has also impacted in the economy downfall. The decrease of tourist visitation to Zimbabwe national parks resulted in the decrease of income that flows into the country especially from tourists who explored the tourist sites. The main goal of this study is to determine whether the obstacle faced by Zimbabwe in the development of national parks, and it also seeks answers to existing obstacles.This would help to ensure that the sustainability of national parks in the country from the perspectives of government agencies, the local community, environmentalists, special interest group and media. COPY RIGHT © 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 458 ijcrb.webs.com SEPTEMBER 2013 INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS VOL 5, NO 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Importance of tourism in Zimbabwe Tourism in Zimbabwe plays a very important role for the country, and as it generates a big part of the national income. According toUNWTO (2004), approximately 1.6million tourists visited the country and brought in 80 million Euros into the country. Tourism in Zimbabwe remains a strong economic stabilizer in for the country. Tourism in Zimbabwe is the 3rd highest foreign currency stipendiary in the country after mining and agriculture. This might be possibly caused by affordable flights and higher accessibility to Zimbabwe as compared to visiting other destinations. Zimbabwe is known for Victoria Falls and the vast landscape and wildlife. Tourism generates large employment opportunities for the locals in the country and to certain extent to other Africans around the world. National parks as the main attraction of the tourism industry of Zimbabwe should be primarily concerned over its sustainability and development. 2.1.1Role of National Parks in Zimbabwe The role of national parks is to safely look after the wildlife in the country. The authorities need to ensure that the wildlife is closely monitored and taken care well. The national parks act as a sanctuary and home to the wildlife. Secondly, is to act as an attraction for tourists and visitors by providing public the opportunity to move around and view different kinds of wildlife in the parks. Therefore, maintaining the quality and development of these national parks are vital. 2.2Role of various stakeholders for the development of national parks in Zimbabwe This particular study is adapted because it can be easily related to the current study that is trying to investigate on national parks, the elements being investigated are similar to that of which affect the national parks around Zimbabwe. Each element in the framework of study has a distinct role in the growth and maintenance of the national parks.The framework used in the previous study was focusing more on Eco-tourism. This particular framework is used in this study because the elements have been closely examined and deemed to fits well with the nature of this study. Adding to this, the framework has helped to analyze in a way the impact eco-tourism may have on the development of other aspects such as national parks in Zimbabwe. 2.2.1 Local community The present study is primarily driven by previous study. This study performed a similar study on “Nature based Eco-tourism in a Growing Market” by(Chirgwin and Hughes, 1997). The framework of study (figure 1.2) had been drawn based on the facts of study by Chirgwin and Hughes. The main purpose of this research isto identifythe potential obstacles that the national parks are facing in its development. The impact of tourism had the potential to grow and improve as it serves as both tourism entity as well as an economic booster for the country. The maintenance of the resources in the country, especially in national parks depending widely and exceptionally on the local community, as the local community is the core of every tourism destination. They learnt to understand the environment better than the tourists, even better than the tourism associations in the country as they reside longer in the place longer. Without the locals the country would not be able to function, as the locals assist every industry by working, and travelling. The reason of the local community being viewed as an obstacle COPY RIGHT © 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 459 ijcrb.webs.com SEPTEMBER 2013 INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS VOL 5, NO 5 in the framework of study is the possibility on the role of locals being viewed as a threat by the government in conflict of views and perspectives (Gandiwa, 2011). Therefore, gaining views from the local community is vital. 2.2.2 Government agencies The government agencies such as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), Ministry of tourism, National Park Authority to name a few, all work with the government to ensure that the country works together for its development. It is important to gather insights from the government agencies in the obstacles hindering development of national parks as government agencies work with the national parks to ensure growth (Crisis Coalition Zimbabwe, 2004).The political instability in Zimbabwe has caused many international investors to either withdraw their investments or refrain from investing in the country as they felt that the country could collapse at any minute. The shortage of foreign currency in the country makes it almost impossible to repatriate dividends from investments and there is reportedly a large backlog of such dividends awaiting repatriation.
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