Flying High

Bird watching tourism is set to take off in a big way in South Africa.

BirdLife South Africa, the country’s leading ornithological conservation body, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Department of Tourism, as a result of which “avitourism” will be promoted as a key niche sector of the all important tourism market from 2012 to 2015.

“We are currently drafting a strategic development document which will focus on putting in place the framework for a partnership between Government, ourselves, tour operators and all the other birding interests in South Africa,” explains Martin Taylor, Manager of BirdLife South Africa’s Avitourism Division.

Birds Equal Big Bucks
Domestic and international birders cumulatively spend an estimated R927 million to R1,725 billion annually in South Africa, according to a yearlong independent study undertaken by development economists Kaiser and Associates on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry (dti). But the potential contribution to the nation’s GDP is R1,025 to R1,975 billion.

It is thought there are 21,000 to 40,000 birders in South Africa at any given time of which 13,000 to 24,000 are active, home grown ones and 8,000 to 16,000 are from abroad.

Given that globetrotting birders make an estimated three million international trips annually, clearly South Africa is only scratching the surface of the global market at present. “Foreign birders visiting South Africa is perhaps one of the most important areas with potential for growth,” states the research and analysis report titled Avitourism in South Africa. It adds that the country “is a premier destination because of its large diversity of birds, large number of endemic [found nowhere else] species and full complement of major bird habitats in Africa”.

Birders – domestic and foreign alike – splash their cash on a wide range of things, from accommodation, transport and food and drink to binoculars, telescopes, magazines, books and guide fees. The greater the passion, the greater the expenditure, says the report, “suggesting that efforts to increase interest in birding, and the avidity of birders, may yield even greater revenues across a broad range of sectors”.

Active South African avitourists spend around 36 days a year birding. International avitourists “tend to be more fanatical” in that they devote a greater proportion of their leisure time to birding and spend more money on tours and equipment.

Self-catering accommodation is preferred by most domestic avitourists. International birders also use this type of accommodation, but are more likely than domestic birders to stay in hotels, guest houses and game lodges.

Domestic avitourists are more affluent than typical South African tourists, since 35% of them enjoy household incomes of more than R40,000 per month. A further 21% have incomes of between R25,000 and R39,999 per month.

Best Birding Hotspots
The most popular birding destinations for domestic avitourists – excluding those who responded via email groups, which were “heavily biased towards the Western Cape and Gauteng” – are KwaZulu-Natal (21%), the Western Cape (19%), Mpumalanga (18%), Limpopo (14%) and Gauteng (10%).  “International birders followed a similar pattern, except that Mpumalanga was higher than the rest (26%), probably due mainly to visiting the Kruger National Park,” states the report.

Most avitourists prefer travelling in small groups of one to four people, “which lends itself particularly well to the use of small tour operators and community guides, rather than larger tour operators”.

Community guides have been shown to be “effective environmental stewards”, yet only 34% of the surveyed birders said they employed such guides. Expanding the use of community guides “carries the potential for significant economic benefit to previously disadvantaged people and communities”, higher incomes, enterprise development, capacity building “and a sense of empowerment and self-worth”.

Birding routes, of which BirdLife South Africa has created a network across the country, have “a positive impact on local communities by creating socio-economic wealth and environmental conservation”.

Sugarbirds, wood hoopoes, mouse birds, hamerkop, ostrich, wattle eyes, bush shrikes and whydahs are among the 841 bird species found in South Africa, according to the latest BirdLife South Africa checklist released in March 2011. Of these, 19 are endemic to the country. South Africa is also home to 46 near-endemic species (those with a minimum of 70% of their total population in the country). According to BirdLife South Africa, the country boasts the highest number of endemics and near-endemics on the African continent. Endemics, wherever they occur, are eagerly sought after by birders.

“BirdLife has been beating the drum for birding tourism for seven or eight years, but it is just one player in the industry,” says Taylor. “It’s going to take all the different stakeholders involved to pull together with the Department of Tourism to really get things going. We are extremely excited with developments and hope Government will now pick up the baton and run with it.”

When it comes to birding tourism, only the sky is the limit as far as South Africa is concerned.

Useful Websites
http://www.birdingroutes.co.za/
http://www.birdlife.org.za/

Story by Ron Toft

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