The Coalition for Ethical Wildlife Tourism – proving the demand for animal-friendly tourism
The Coalition for Ethical Wildlife Tourism
An alliance of committed travel industry leaders from across the globe working to end cruel wildlife entertainment
An alliance of committed travel industry leaders from across the globe working to end cruel wildlife entertainment
Ethical wildlife tourism is the future
More than 500,000 wild animals worldwide, including elephants, sloths, tigers and dolphins, are suffering for tourist entertainment. Depending on the species, the cruelty can involve snatching from the wild, ‘training’ with beatings, isolation and chaining, severely inadequate living conditions and forced contact with people.
Despite a growing awareness amongst tourists and travel companies, around 110 million people still visit cruel wildlife attractions annually, either independently or through tour operators or travel agents. Therefore, in a time when tourism is growing, more action is needed.
Members of the coalition acknowledge all of the above, as well as their unique position to change the lives of wild animals for the better.
By working together, coalition members aim to:
- prove a strong demand and support for venues to become Wildlife-Friendly (observation only) to increase the supply of truly ethical, high welfare wildlife venues.
- drive industry standards and government legislation that better protect wild animals and phase out cruel wildlife entertainment practices.
Who we are
Our coalition is made up of representatives from the travel industry and World Animal Protection:
- Airbnb
- ANVR
- Booking.com
- DER Touristik
- EXO Travel
- G Adventures & Planeterra Foundation
- Intrepid Group & The Intrepid Foundation
- QYER
- The Travel Corporation & TreadRight Foundation
- World Expeditions
The coalition came about after initial interest from travel industry stakeholders at the roundtable 'Moving towards an Elephant-Friendly future', organised by us during ITB Berlin in 2016.
Several coalition members appear in our documentary which showcases our support and work to transition an elephant riding camp into the observation only, elephant-friendly venue, ChangChill.
Read the report on our work in ChangChill, The Making of an Elephant Friendly Future, here.
