Directions: Golf resort hits rough

The Sunday Times (London)
December 03, 2006

A group of British tour operators is urging a boycott of a hotel group in protest against the planned construction of a luxury resort complex at the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site in Zambia.

The South African-based Legacy Hotels Group, which owns five-star hotels, safari lodges and bush camps in Africa’s most popular safari destinations, has admitted that the vast 18-hole golf resort, comprising two hotels, 500 chalets and a country club in an important elephant habitat on the banks of the Zambezi, will cause “irreversible ecological damage” in the area.

Unesco has told the company that the development is “irresponsible” and has promised a worldwide campaign to discourage tourists from visiting the area.

The British safari operators Expert Africa, Rainbow Tours, Dragoman, Okavango Tours & Safaris, Aardvark Safaris and Wildlife Worldwide have pledged to support the boycott, proposed by the ecotravel specialist Tribes.

The director of Tribes, Amanda Marks, said: “We think that a campaign to stop this development should begin before construction gets under way and the prime elephant habitat on the banks of the Zambezi is bulldozed.”