ANIMONDIAL worked with Explore to update and improve their Animal Protection Policy. This included a review of their products against their requirements, a training workshop to identify the Brand vision and guiding principles, and a revised policy that has enabled them to implement best practice standards throughout their offerings and operations.
“Explore wholeheartedly support the work of ANIMONDIAL. With animal welfare sitting at the heart of so many of our trips, we needed a robust policy that will protect the wildlife around us for generations to come. Their knowledge, passion and objectivity will shape your programme as it has ours.”
Collette decided to partner with ANIMONDIAL to assess 500 selected animal-based products from their supply chain. We examined the portfolio in detail, highlighting any products that might present risk and provided guidance on how to manage the risk identified. This enabled Collette to confidently fulfil their animal welfare commitment and ensure their reputation for high standards in responsible tourism.
“Our guests trust us to make the best decisions about who we work with and what types of products and services we purchase. Animal welfare is important to us, and our product offerings need to relate to these values. It was important to us to work with experts who could review all of our offerings, give us thorough research, and help us determine whether our vendors met our expectations. That’s why we chose to work with ANIMONDIAL because we were confident that we will be empowered to make the right decisions.”
DER Touristik Group worked with ANIMONDIAL over an 18-month period, during which time we developed a group-wide policy and an integration strategy to ensure group-wide delivery. This included the creation of bespoke internal guidance manuals covering Policy & Strategy Delivery, Marketing, Sales & Customer Service, Communications, and Product Procurement. Teams were also trained on the effective use of the newly developed policy and guidance materials.
“ANIMONDIAL has helped us to establish policies and detailed guidelines that allow us a joint approach within the DER Touristik Group and our network of partners when dealing with animal experiences. With its wealth of expertise ANIMONDIAL has helped us to significantly raise our capacity in all issues related to animal welfare and we are grateful for the valuable cooperation.”
As one of the first UK-based SME travel businesses to mainstream animal protection, ANIMONDIAL supported their pioneering approach, created their policy and product procurement guidelines, and delivered in-person training. Together, Rickshaw Travel and ANIMONDIAL created the Animal Welfare Starter Kit to guide tourism SMEs on how to mainstream animal welfare safeguards.
“It’s our hope, here at Rickshaw Travel, that by sharing our own approach to animal welfare we might be able to help more small and medium sized businesses get started on their animal-friendly journey. The impartiality and informed decision-making that ANIMONDIAL brought to the table was what really enabled us to define our own policies that aligned with our unique business model and brand identity.”
– Jennifer Parker, Head of Meaningful Travel, Rickshaw Travel
In partnership with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), ANIMONDIAL developed an OnlineEDU Course to guide travel and tourism businesses, particularly those in the adventure market, to manage their impact on animals and nature (ATTA News, 2022). ANIMONDIAL continues to support the ATTA Membership on all matters concerning animal and nature protection, including AdventureConnect at WTM London and at ATTA’s World Summit.
“This is not a course just for those that have a focus on wildlife, but for any business that operates in any environment where animals can interact with visitors. The course is complete and gave us great insights and tips that we will certainly discuss with the team to include in our operation. We encourage all adventure travel businesses to take this course as a way to improve our collective responsibility in operations, in the field, and also as a commitment to the planet.”
– Raffaele Di Biase, Co-Founder & Head Guide, BirdsChile
Scott Dunn was the first luxury travel business to undertake the NATOUR IMPACT assessment, as their first step to adopting the Nature Positive Tourism approach. The assessment provided them with detailed analysis of their current strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations of the priority areas for action. It also delivered an overall score that provides them a benchmark to track progress across the areas of assessment: Animal Welfare, Biodiversity Protection, Sustainable Consumption and Community Engagement
“We were impressed by NATOUR IMPACT’s detailed approach and its unique ability to integrate all relevant industry guidelines into one tool. By aligning with key instruments like the UN Global Biodiversity Framework, SDGs, GSTC criteria, and ABTA Animal Welfare Criteria it saved a huge amount of time and resources. Now, we have the evidence we need to make Nature Positive Tourism a business priority at Scott Dunn.”
ANIMONDIAL introduced MSC Cruises to NatureMetrics, which provided the business a means to collect comprehensive biodiversity data of marine life using eDNA. The biodiversity data has helped MSC Cruises to monitor its impact in the destination and identify areas of high biodiversity, guiding their nature positive actions. The collected data has also contributed to eBioAtlas: a bank of reliable global biodiversity data. The project also pioneered an innovative method of collecting seawater samples, from which genetic material was identified. This helps pave the way for other organisations to measure and monitor biodiversity in an aquatic environment from a moving vessel.
ANIMONDIAL, working in partnership with the World Travel and Tourism Council, World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, and UN Tourism, established the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership, an initiative that continues to advocate the Nature Positive Tourism initiative: a means for travel & tourism to join other business sectors to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The Partnership has published the Nature Positive Tourism Vision, two reports to guide the sector towards a nature positive future, and various industry surveys, an expert consultation, and webinars to support the global travel & tourism sector through its required transformation. Activities have included presentations at the CBD COP15 (2022) and COP16 (2024). Tourism businesses are encouraged to sign up to the Nature Positive Tourism Vision.
“Nature Positive Tourism is vital to the future of our sector. The Nature Positive Tourism initiative has received unprecedented engagement and interest from our members, highlighting its crucial importance. By prioritising the protection and restoration of nature, we will deliver on all sustainability goals – people, plastics, carbon, waste, you name it! After all, sustainability is just one aspect of the nature positive agenda – to ensure the longevity and appeal of destinations worldwide, benefiting both travellers and local communities.”
– Christopher Imbsen, VP Research & Sustainability, WTTC
Since 2018, Four Paws International and ANIMONDIAL have been working together to support an end to the dog and cat meat trade in Southeast Asia. ANIMONDIAL helped guide the work of regional Four Paws officers, engage the travel and tourism sector as influencers, and ensure the respect and support of local communities who wish to end the trade. We helped rally over 80 businesses in the tourism sector and played a key role in Hoi An, Vietnam, declaring itself as a dog- and cat-meat free city.
To support the application of the ABTA Animal Welfare Guidelines and provide a robust means for tourism businesses to measure supplier compliance with its minimum requirements and ‘unacceptable practices’, ANIMONDIAL approached the Preverisk Group to establish auditing and consultancy services. The audits, available in both desk-based and in-person formats, align with ABTA’s recommendations and science-based standards, and upon request, alignment with specific requirements of the commissioning business. ANIMONDIAL ensures that Preverisk auditors are trained, and we provide them regular support and result validation. This ensures a robust and comprehensive approach to assessing animal welfare and care at animal- and nature-based suppliers.
“Innovation is of paramount importance to Preverisk. We are continuously developing and integrating new services for the travel sector. We are delighted to have joined forces with ANIMONDIAL to incorporate new consultancy services aimed at animal welfare protection in the industry. We will integrate this with our well-established services in the reduction of health and safety risks for holidaymakers. ANIMONDIAL possesses a deep knowledge and expertise in a vast array of issues relating to animal welfare, and we are very much looking forward to building a successful partnership together.”
ANIMONDIAL provides regular presentations and workshops to colleges and universities, raising awareness of the problems facing the tourism sector today, in the hope that solutions will be found that ensure they will no longer be a problem in the future. Together with MMU, ANIMONDIAL is developing a series of lectures to encourage biodiversity mainstreaming so that there is a future for sustainable business.
“Our goal is to help create sought-after, career-ready graduates, and that’s why I consider it vital that our students fully appreciate the importance of animal and nature protection. During my time as Sustainable Product Manager at TUI Group (2008-2014), Daniel’s strategic efforts were instrumental in guiding industry – in the UK and beyond – towards achieving considerable advancements in improving animal welfare. It’s a pleasure to be working together once again over the last year, as we develop a Biodiversity Literacy course at Manchester Met, to ensure our students recognise that there is no future for business without biodiversity and healthy functioning ecosystems.”
– Sean Owens, Programme Leader, Department of Marketing, International Business and Tourism, Manchester Metropolitan University
ANIMONDIAL is working with Travel by B Corp to develop a set of sector-specific guidance that captures key lessons learned by its members in how to conduct a supply chain assessment. This will be used to encourage businesses across the sector to engage their suppliers and destination partners to reduce impacts and restore nature through their supply chains. ANIMONDIAL continues to seek opportunities to support and guide the travel & tourism sector towards a nature positive future.
Vultures – c. Bibhash Polygon Banerjee