Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
The Serengeti-Ngorongoro southern circuit, a key migration route, is another tourist hotspot. It receives 300,000 visitors a year, spending $500 million in total on trips to the 300-kilometer stretch between Arusha and Serengeti, Tanzania.
Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
Of the countries who submitted data, 14 generated a total of approximately $142 million in entrance fees to protected parks, bolstering the coffers of various conservation initiatives. Around half of operators contribute to anti-poaching projects, and governments are taking steps to counter the elevated threat in recent years.
Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
UNTWO worked out that across the continent, the average wildlife tour lasts 10 days, has six participants and costs $433 per day. It also found that France, the UK, the U.S., Germany and Portugal are the biggest long-haul markets for Africa.
Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
Big beasts, big business: The countries cashing in on wildlife tours
Globally there were 12 million wildlife tourism trips in 2013 (the last full year of data available), and numbers are rising 10% annually, suggesting positive signs for the industry -- should it counter the existential threats to it, such as "the dramatic increasein poaching and illicit trade of wildlife products since 2005," which "threatens to undermine conservation achievements," according to UNTWO.