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my home State of Florida, so I can see the benefits that countries 

 would gain from promoting these projects. 



Can you give us your analysis of the political environment for 

 ecotourism in Africa? Has there been any change in the accept- 

 ability of economic development and investment in tourism, and 

 what can be done to maximize the local population's economic bene- 

 fits from the tourism industry? 



Mr. Prcs'GLE. I could be wrong on this, Madam Chairman. But 

 I am not aware of much serious opposition to the idea of ecotourism 

 these days. I think that everybody sees it as a "win-win." Granted 

 that it might not always be easv to structure your ecotourism so 

 that local people are employed. That is where the outside world can 

 help, I think, by encouraging and by making it possible for people 

 to take that extra step at the beginning, so you do get communities 

 involved. 



I mean it is more work that way, but it can be done. There are 



Elenty of employment possibilities. Ecotourism is a service industry 

 asically. And then there are all of the revenue benefits. And I 

 would add the benefits in terms of awareness raising and as a 

 source of national pride. 



Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. What countries in the continent are more ac- 

 tive in the promotion of this industry? 



Mr. Pringle. You have to say that in southern Africa, it really 

 started in Kenya in a big way. It is enormously important economi- 

 cally in Kenya. It has become so over larger areas of southern Afri- 

 ca. Ecotourism in Botswana is highly developed. It is catching on 

 in a big wav in Namibia. 



There is kind of a spread effect. Because people find, which I will 

 hope you will discover on your trip in August, that game parks are 

 addictive. They are so spectacular. And once you have seen them, 

 you want to see more. And you want to go to places where the tour- 

 ist herd is not going. You want to get away. If everybody else is 

 going to Kenya, all of a sudden Namibia looks tremendously attrac- 

 tive, which indeed it is. So they are now going to places like Na- 

 mibia, which are a little bit off the beaten track. 



If peace can be restored in the Central Africa area, the whole 

 complex area around the rift valley lakes is going to be enormously 

 attractive. 



Uganda, which has been neglected for many years, because of the 

 security situation there, is coming back. And there is a natural 

 tourist circuit easily done by vehicle running out of East Africa 

 through the Rifl Lakes and into eastern Zaire, where there has al- 

 ways been some tourism despite the difficulties involved. 



West Africa is not as spectacular on the same terms as East Afri- 

 ca, and people do not know about it, but there is a great potential 

 there as well. And finally, there is, as we are discovering in Central 

 America, a tremendous fascination on the part of a lot of people for 

 rain forests, and justifiably so. And I think that we are going to 

 find that the rain forest features of Central Africa, once people 

 know about them, can also be a tremendous drawing card. 



Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Which countries? 



Mr. Pringle. Gabon, which is a place that people have not heard 

 of. And it is certainly not considered to be a tourist designation 

 among Americans. There is a park there where the forest elephants 



