The laggard tour operators who still fail wild animals

Tourism is big business. Travel can also be an educational experience. However, expectations of the public had changed significantly since the days when package holidays were first introduced. Modern travelers are looking for more responsible ways to holiday — including purchasing from tour operators that support responsible animal welfare in the travel industry.

How to find responsible travel companies for tourists

What makes a responsible operator responsible? These companies should engage in sustainable practices to reduce or offset their environmental impact. They should also invest in ecotourism, conserving the environment, and considering the well-being of local communities.

However, more is needed. To be responsible, a company must do good by sharing its travel experiences. Too many tour operators continue to promote exploitative wildlife entertainment and bad.

The Real Responsible Traveller Report

World Animal Protection’s The Real Responsible Tourist report will help you make the right decision. Researchers gathered information from each company’s public websites to determine which companies sell harmful experiences at captive wildlife venues. The company’s business models also included four critical areas that affect animal welfare.

Commitment

Performance and targets

Supply changes in the industry

Changing consumer demand

These are our top picks for the best tour operators.

Five global tour operators that are still failing wildlife

We found five-holiday companies and tour operators still seriously failing wild animal populations. These tour companies continue to offer exploitative ‘experiences’ involving wild animals. They help sustain the demand rather than helping eliminate it.

These five companies — GetYourGuide. Klook. Traveloka. Trip.com. And TUI — needs to catch up in acknowledging the tourism industry’s responsibility toward animal preservation. They also downplay the dangers of interactions between wild animals, tourists, and other visitors.

GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide shares the same poor performance as other tour operators by taking very little to no responsibility for animal suffering. They have yet to try to alter their targets, commitments, supply chains, or transparency.

The company has not attempted to incorporate animal welfare commitments into its plans.

GetYourGuide continues its work with suppliers that violate guidelines. They were also awarded 0% for changing the industry supply.

Klook

• Klook has yet to improve its transparency, commitments, targets, supply chains, or transparency since the Tracking of the Travel Industry report in 2019.
• Klook completely ignored its responsibility for animal protection, according to our findings. Klook encourages customers to contact wild animals by selling tickets on their website.
• The tour operator also received 0% for changing the industry supply. They will continue to work with suppliers that violate animal protection guidelines or aren’t transparent about their processes.

Traveloka

2022 The Real Responsible Traveller Report was the first to be completed on Traveloka operations. However, they were given a shockingly low score (3%).

This score shows a total lack of commitment to animal welfare in the business.

Traveloka has also scored 0% in changing industry supply. This reflects their willingness to work alongside suppliers who need to be more transparent about how they comply with animal protection guidelines.

TUI

TUI has taken steps to improve the supply chain for attractions that involve wild animals. They are transparent about their supplier processes. This is a positive step.

The tour operator sells tickets to exploitative wildlife sites, which sustains the demand for animal cruelty.

TUI was found to have failed all four species we tested and their policies towards wildlife in general.

How can tour operators promote sustainable travel?

While ecotourism and sustainable travel companies are crucial in ending animal suffering, not all tour operators are willing to do so.

We’ve seen that more than growing customer demand for ethical and sustainable practices are needed to convince some companies to prioritize animal protection. This is shocking, especially since business and ethical cases are closely connected.

It is also quite simple to take the necessary steps. We provide a clear pathway for tour operators looking to make a positive impact. Let’s look at some of the most important steps they can take to change the industry.

Stop selling tickets for captive wildlife entertainment.

Captive wildlife entertainment is when tourists interact directly with wild animals or make the animals perform for an audience. Even though the animals seem to be enjoying the show, this activity can cause harm to them.

Wildlife entertainment vs. wildlife experiences

To better understand wild animals, we don’t object to tourists seeing them. This type of engagement can be very beneficial for animal protection. We must support tour operators that provide ‘animal encounters’ with animals with positive conservation and community impact. Captive wildlife entertainment falls under this category.

Captive wildlife entertainment is different from experiences that are authentic and educational or promote animal protection. Wildlife entertainment involves animals born in captivity or captured in the wild. They are often taken from their mothers early and put through harsh training, which has been proven to cause psychological and physical harm.

Also, forcing animals to live in stressful and artificial environments is not a good idea. It doesn’t help their welfare.

It probably isn’t right if it doesn’t feel right.

This kind of wildlife experience needs to be corrected for holiday-makers. We found customers concerned about animals’ suffering in these forms of entertainment. 84% of the respondents to our research thought that tour operators shouldn’t be selling tickets for these activities.

Transparency in your wildlife policies

The public would like to know how tour operators protect wildlife. They also want to be able to vote for sustainable travel companies with their money. Transparency in wildlife policies can reassure customers and promote change within the sector.

Transparent wildlife policies must be provided to customers by tour operators. They must be able to and willingly declare their animal protection goals publicly and provide regular updates and reports on their progress.

Customers and companies should be proud of their wildlife policies. Trust between tour operators, eco-conscious customers, and tourists is built by keeping animal protection front and center and being open about what can be done.