You’re moving travel companies to be animal-friendly

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More than 42 leading travel brands within The Travel Corporation have updated their animal welfare policies. And it’s one of the first in the world to use the Five Domains model – the latest science-based framework for assessing animal welfare.

With your help, we’re encouraging other travel operators and tourism businesses to adopt the following ethical practices concerning animals and wildlife:

• Committing to animal welfare by taking World Animal Protection’s wildlife-friendly tourism pledge; and communicating this intent to customers and the public.
• Reviewing their product offerings and assessing animal-related activities. High risk activities that have negative impacts on animal welfare and the conservation of the species in the wild include direct interaction with wild animals and wild animals performing in shows.
• Developing an animal welfare policy and removing any activities and venues identified as problematic.
• Training staff on animal welfare and how to identify cruel attractions and activities.
• Working with other travel company leaders to facilitate sustainable change.

It takes time to build back resiliently and create a more responsible travel industry. With no one travelling now, it’s the perfect opportunity for travel companies to evolve.

You’re also lobbying the World Tourism Organisation at the United Nations (UNWTO). As the agency responsible for the promotion of responsible and sustainable tourism, the UNWTO have put forward new recommendations for rebuilding the tourism industry after the coronavirus crisis. However, we were disappointed to see there was no mention of wildlife-friendly tourism. So, with your support, we joined over 200 organisations urging them to phase out all captive wildlife entertainment like elephant rides, dolphin swims and tiger selfies.

Thank you for being part of a global movement to end exploitative wildlife tourism for good. Together, we can rebuild tourism more responsibly for wild animals.

It takes time to build back resiliently and create a more responsible travel industry. With no one travelling now, it’s the perfect opportunity for travel companies to evolve.