Page 5 - Professorial Lecture - Professor Mapaure

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the
movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for
personal, business or professional purposes (United Nations World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO), 2016). People who partake in such activities are called
visitors, and they can either be residents (locals) or non-residents (international
tourists). Wildlife-based tourism is that (tourism) which is undertaken to view
and/or encounter wild flora and fauna. These days there is the concept of
ecotourism, which largely refers to responsible tourism in natural areas.

Tourism is one of the largest income earners for many countries in the world. In
southern Africa, tourism contributes significantly to the economies of most
countries (Figures 1-2), and the industry ranks among the top contributors to GDP
in most countries (Table 1). The bulk of tourism activities are based on biodiversity,
including game viewing.

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2014 Receipts (US$ million) 1200
1400

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Country

Figure 1: Contribution of tourism to the GDP of selected countries in southern
Africa (UNWTO, 2015). South Africa is highest at 9348 million US$ Receipts.

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