Climate change resilience strategies for safeguarding sustainable tourism in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Climate change poses significant challenges to Zimbabwe’s sustainable tourism. The paper investigates multifaceted relationship between six independent variables: food and water scarcity, human-wildlife conflict, habitat disruption, drought, native species loss, wildlife immigration and one dependent variable: sustainable tourism in Zimbabwe. This study employed a quantitative approach, collecting data from 532 participants across the tourism supply chain through a simple random sampling method. The sample size was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table. Data collection was facilitated using Google Forms, and data analysis was carried out using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical results revealed a significant direct relationship among the mentioned variables, with T-statistics values exceeding the threshold of 1.96, ranging from a minimum of 2.548 to a maximum of 5.887. These findings highlight climate change-induced factors like habitat disruption, drought, and human-wildlife conflict pose significant threats to sustainable tourism in Zimbabwe. The research sheds light on the urgency of climate adaptation strategies and the need for holistic policies that preserve ecological health, economic viability, and social welfare within the tourism sector. Policymakers should prioritize climate adaptation strategies, biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and diversification of tourism offerings to bolster the sector’s resilience.