The Influence of Coordinated Wildlife-based Tourism Marketing Mix Strategies on the Overall Tourism Performance of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study analysed the influence of coordinated wildlife-based tourism marketing mix strategies towards improving the tourism performance of Zimbabwe. The study used a positivism-based research design with a cross-sectional survey and a quota sample size of 411 (137 stakeholders and 274 tourists). The results indicated that the top five (5) high-performance areas of coordinated wildlife-based tourism marketing mix strategies were product mix, place mix, physical evidence mix, people mix and price mix in order of strength. The results also showed that the coordinated wildlife-based tourism marketing mix strategies had a positive impact on various tourism variables. The study concluded that: (i) the coordinated wildlife-based tourism marketing mix strategies performed higher than the average level, and (ii) there was a strong relationship between tourists and stakeholders on their perceptions of the coordinated wildlife-based tourism marketing mix strategies of Zimbabwe. Wildlife industry organisations need to consider ensuring that the ranked marketing mix strategies are linked, networked, and coordinated with other players in the broad tourism in ways that attract, retain, and satisfy local and domestic tourists.

Keywords

• coordination
• game drive
• marketing mix
• photographic safaris
• wildlife-based tourism