An analysis of Trophy Hunting Tourism Marketing Mix Performance of Zimbabwe

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.