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South African National Parks is one of South Africa’s main drawcards for ecotourists. One of these parks is the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP), which is also a World Heritage Site (WHS). Because tourism is key to national parks and WHSs, visitor management strategies such as interpretation are vital for these destinations to provide tourists with better experiences and knowledge. The aim of this research was therefore to determine the interpretation needs and preferences of visitors to KTP. The factor analyses revealed that tourists felt that park guidelines would add the most to a quality experience. Tourists preferred interpretation topics on nature and heritage and would like to receive in-depth information on these topics. Interpretation should also preferably be offered through audio and visual media. These findings impact the development of relevant interpretation services for the park, which will contribute towards visitors’ experiences. The research is original as it examined visitors’ interpretation needs and preferences on topics, the extent of information tourists would like to receive and the type of media through which information should be presented. Conservation implications: Designing relevant interpretation services based on tourists’ needs and preferences will contribute towards satisfactory experiences. In turn, this may lead to an increase in profits, which can support conservation practices. Effective interpretation messages can also foster additional support towards conservation efforts.

The aim of this research was to determine the economic impact of trophy hunting in the wildlife industry of South Africa. The link to the questionnaire was distributed electronically by the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA) as well as by SCI (Safari Club International) to the 7600 hunters who engaged in hunting activities in South Africa during 2015/16 and 362 responses were recorded. The annual amount spend by trophy hunters in this country is US$250 million. Using multiplier analysis based on the Social Account Matrix (SAM) of South Africa, the research revealed that trophy hunting annually contributes more than US$341 million to the South African economy and that it supports more than 17 000 employment opportunities. The agricultural sector benefits the most, holding important implications for rural development and poverty alleviation in the country. Keywords: Hunting, Economics, Poverty, Rural, Tourism, Multiplier

The core of South Africa tourism industry is based on wildlife tourism. Private game reserves and game farms which forms part of wildlife tourism constitute most of the wildlife products in South Africa. On these private reserves and game farms, hunting is one of the major income generators for product owners. The aim of this study is to analyse the economic impact of hunting on the regional economies of three of South Africa’s most important hunting provinces. The study used economic multipliers, input-output analysis, and related modelling processes through input-output (supply-use) tables and social accounting matrices (SAM). The results differed significantly for the three provinces, with Limpopo receiving the biggest impact (R2.6 billion) and the Free State having the highest multiplier (2.08). The geographical location of the game farms, the number of farms per province and the species available all influenced the magnitude of the economic impact of hunters over and above the traditional determinants of economic impact analysis. The implication of the research is that it will help product owners in the development of game farms or hunting products, contribute to policy formulation, especially for government decisions on what products to offer where, and how to create more jobs.