Single elephant in woodland

The Coalition for Ethical Wildlife Tourism

proving the demand for animal-friendly tourism

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.

 

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 new 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.