Safari tour operators are calling for a boycott of a South African hotel group, over plans to build a luxury resort in a national park. UNESCO says the development is irresponsible.
The British tour operator, Tribes, which specializes in fair trade travel has called for a boycott of the Legacy Hotels group of South Africa. It’s protesting against the development of a new resort in Zambia close to the renowned Victoria Falls and the town of Livingstone.
Legacy Hotels, based in South Africa, is planning to build two luxury hotels, 500 river-front chalets, a country club and a golf course in the Mosi-oa Tunya national park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The resort will also have a conference centre and related services for up to 1,000 delegates
“We think that a campaign to stop this development should begin before it gets underway, and the prime elephant habitat on the banks of the Zambezi is bulldozed ready for such a travesty," said Director of Tribes, Amanda Marks. “We very much hope that Legacy will think again about their plans here, and make the right decision based on ethics and preservation of a World Heritage Site, rather than simply on money. Certainly it would be good for Zambia to have the income and jobs which such a development would bring, but does it really need to be in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park?”
Mosi-oa Tunya National Park is one of Zambia’s greatest natural assets. It includes Victoria Falls – one of the seven natural wonders of the world - as well as a fragile and hugely important area of riverside rainforest, woodland and grassed areas, plus a section of the Zambezi River from 5km below and 35km above the Falls. There are about 400 bird species in the National Park and 30 species of large mammal. It is environmentally and scientifically extremely important. The resort development would block a vital wildlife corridor through the national park, according to campaigners.
Whilst the Zambian government have given Legacy a tourism concession here, UNESCO has told the hotel group that their planned development would be “irresponsible” and that they would mount a worldwide campaign to discourage tourists from visiting the area. Legacy themselves have apparently admitted that the development will cause “irreversible ecological damage”.
Tribes is a specialist UK tour operator which works on fair trade and responsible travel principles. The company offers tailor-made holidays to Africa including Zambia and South Africa, South America and parts of Asia. They were the Global Winners of the Responsible Travel Awards in 2005 and the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards in 2002.
It says it has support for the boycott of Legacy from other fair-trade and ecological tour operators, including Expert Africa, Rainbow Tours, Dragoman, Okavango Tours & Safaris, Aardvark Safaris and Wildlife Worldwide.
Legacy Hotel Group is a South African company with a portfolio of luxury hotels, resorts and bush lodges in various countries including South Africa, Namibia, and Tanzania. Their flagship hotel, the Michaelangelo is recognised as one of the Leading Hotels of the World.
The Wildlife and Environment Society of Zambia has raised its concern about the impact of the Legacy development and Legacy’s admission that the project site will have all its natural vegetation removed, causing irreversible ecological damage.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment