Biodiversity Basics
Safeguarding an animal’s welfare has often been regarded as something radical rather than something necessary, at least when compared to protecting species or ecosystems. But respecting an animal’s physical and Continue Reading →
Tag: sustainable tourism
Carbon Offsetting: An essential action or an ineffective distraction?
Carbon Offsetting is, in essence, paying others to prevent, reduce or remove carbon emissions in order to compensate for one’s own emissions. It is therefore unsurprising that “carbon offsetting” has received such bad press, giving the impression that a business is just avoiding taking responsibility for its own actions.
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My impression is that while some may continue to “pay to pollute’’, more businesses are turning to carbon offsetting to complement genuine action to reduce their impacts.
The pitfalls of offsetting
Of course, it is more complex than that. Businesses need to guarantee that the chosen offset is genuine, permanent, accountable, and measurable. It can be difficult to verify that projects are actually offsetting as much carbon as needed. Offsets also have to demonstrate that the emission reduction or carbon removal would not have taken place anyway, and that the investment makes a genuine additional contribution. There are even instances where offsetting programmes cause more harm than good, for instance by decreasing biodiversity through infrastructure impacts or monoculture tree planting, which could result in higher net emissions over time. It certainly pays to check before you buy to ensure your investments deliver.
Can you offset biodiversity impacts?
The market for biodiversity offsets is not as mature as the carbon one, but it is clearly subject to similar complexities and uncertainties, probably to an even greater extent. In ANIMONDIAL’s most recent publication with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Nature Positive Travel & Tourism, offsetting was acknowledged as a limited part of a business’ commitment to Nature Positive Tourism. This is because it is considered unreliable by many experts, and in the case of biodiversity does not directly address the impacts on species, habitats and ecosystem services that are being compensated for.
Mitigate, mitigate, mitigate
Instead, we advocate that businesses identify their dependencies and impacts on nature (including their carbon emissions) and then, using the ‘mitigation hierarchy’ (see page 39 of the Nature Positive Travel & Tourism report), to prioritise their responses. This involves first avoiding or reducing both direct impacts and indirect impacts from the value chain, then taking efforts to restore biodiversity after damage has taken place or, if necessary, conduct equivalent restoration at a nearby or ecologically similar location. Only after these steps is offsetting a suitable approach to balancing remaining negative impacts. Offsetting is therefore recommended as a limited action taken as a last resort, and certainly not the only mitigating action.
Is there any place for offsetting?
In the case of carbon emissions, the Net Zero Standard set out by the Science Based Targets Initiative recommends offsetting no more than 10% of emissions, with at least 90% of savings coming from avoiding and reducing emissions. Many leading companies commit to offsetting no more than 5%.
What is the role of biodiversity in carbon offsetting?
Biodiversity loss and nature protection continue to be widely disconnected from most conversations about carbon emission reduction, despite the fact that many of the most cost-efficient, large-scale and long-term emissions reductions or removals are nature-based solutions. In 2021, the world’s leading biodiversity and climate experts acknowledged that biodiversity loss and climate change mutually reinforce each other and can only be tackled together. Businesses, particularly those in Travel &Tourism, should therefore consider how to harness the power of nature (its natural ability to absorb and store carbon) to both offset their emissions and contribute to their biodiversity, as well as sustainable development goals.
Making the most of minimal offsets
Increasingly, carbon offset projects are available that also provide biodiversity and social impact benefits. This can be an efficient way to contribute to multiple Nature Positive goals at once, but it should never be used as a way to side-step more effective mitigation activities. The old saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ still applies – it is far better to avoid doing the damage in the first place than to try to make up for it afterwards.
Mitigation Hierarchy Tips for impacts on nature:
- Focus on avoiding impacts by changing activities at a fundamental level – consider what outcomes the activities are intended to produce and think of other ways of achieving these.
- Maximise reduction activities with bold goals for the level of reduction – combine a range of techniques in optimal ways to get the best results.
- Restoration activities should be done on-site, for instance by replanting natural vegetation in areas that have been damaged during construction works.
- For areas that cannot be restored on site, find ways to restore equivalent natural features nearby that provide similar habitats and ecosystem services.
- Only offset as a last resort, using credible, long-term investments – where possible combine this with carbon offsetting if required.
» Learn about Mitigation Hierarchy and the Nature Positive Tourism approach
» Identify your dependencies and impacts on nature
» Learn about 5 carbon reduction actions to achieve Net Zero by ANIMONDIAL, Partner ecollective
Beyond Sustainable Tourism – the future is Nature Positive
Making the transition from Sustainable Tourism to ‘Nature Positive Tourism’
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When I speak to Travel & Tourism professionals on the importance of Nature Positive Tourism, it is clear many are just overwhelmed by the sheer number of targets required to protect both ‘people and planet’. From ending poverty and single-use plastics to managing energy consumption and animal interactions or halting biodiversity loss and carbon emissions, the expectation on tourism businesses to understand and adopt so many ‘sustainability’ measures can create gridlock.
How to BREAK The Gridlock
This was a key consideration when ANIMONDIAL co-drafted the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) report “Nature Positive Travel & Tourism” and developed its accompanying Toolbox.
Not only were we providing businesses with a step-by-step guide on how to adopt a Nature Positive approach, but we also wanted to encourage a “bigger picture” perspective on sustainability planning. All too often, the sustainability approach focuses on generic, mainstream issues rather than considering the individual business’ impact, its environmental strategy and which issues are most relevant to achieving it.
How to ACT for Nature
Fundamentally, nature loss is not just an environmental issue but something that threatens our economies and societies too. Biodiversity loss threatens everything that ensures our prosperity, wellbeing, and survival, from the provision of life-preserving ecosystem services to our ability to lessen climate change and viral pandemics. Therefore, the ultimate goal of sustainability planning has to be conserving and restoring nature. To do this, we need to think about which issues are most relevant to our operations and supply chain, and what actions are needed to address them. This should be the starting point for any sustainable tourism strategy, and it is exactly the starting point of Nature Positive Tourism.
How to UNDERSTAND Nature Positive Tourism
Nature conservation must be the priority for all businesses, no matter the sector. A Nature Positive approach ensures each business identifies and mitigates its specific negative impacts and, through its operations and activities, seeks nature-related opportunities to restore and enhance biodiversity. While there will be common themes between businesses, such as reducing plastic use or avoiding deforestation, there will be differences in the range of identified impacts and their severity. Using this perspective, we can ensure that mitigating actions are material to the business and have the most effective outcome.
We now understand that is not enough just to consider how we use natural resources; all business efforts must ensure an overall positive impact by conserving and regenerating nature.
How to INTEGRATE Nature Positive Tourism
Accompanying the WTTC Nature Positive Travel & Tourism report is the Toolbox of resources to aid your transition from a sustainability paradigm to a comprehensive Nature Positive approach. The Toolbox includes a series of frameworks that demonstrate how the theory covered in the main report, and the straightforward Phases and Steps of the Nature Positive Tourism Roadmap, can be practically applied. It also provides additional external resources, support services, and business case studies that provide information to cover every business type.
How to START your Nature Positive Tourism approach
The first phase for all businesses is to consider operational dependency and impact on nature, a key business requirement in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This is covered by the first Phase of the Nature Positive Tourism Roadmap: Assess & Define. You can find helpful frameworks in the Toolbox to guide your business to defining its biodiversity loss drivers, or alternatively receive this information with aligned actions through ANIMONDIAL’s in-depth evaluation tool, Animal Footprint. Phase two, Reduce & Restore, focuses on addressing the identified priority issues from Phase one. The Toolbox provides a range of tools and services to suit any business’ needs. This includes services to identify the biodiversity in your key destinations, which can provide vital baseline data for Phase three: Monitor & Report. The fourth and last Phase of your Nature Positive approach is to Collaborate & Communicate: consider partnership building in your destinations to overcome challenges that are out of reach for your business alone, and ensure you shout about the great Nature Positive work you are doing! (Then, return again to Phase one to assess the impact of your actions!)
Adopting a Nature Positive approach requires businesses to think beyond sustainable resource use
We understand that this is a significant adjustment, but there is an urgent need to make this shift. There is no greater threat to our prosperity, wellbeing and survival than nature loss, and we all have a part to play to protect biodiversity and restore nature to reach our global goal to ‘Live in Harmony with Nature”.
» Please support the Vision for Nature Positive Travel & Tourism
» Use the Toolbox and begin your Nature Positive Tourism journey
» Discover your dependency and impacts on nature with Animal Footprint
Realising our Vision for Travel & Tourism
Can Travel & Tourism become nature’s saviour?
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In the coming month, the long-anticipated report, “Towards Nature Positive Travel & Tourism” will be published. Produced by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in collaboration with ANIMONDIAL, it will help to explain nature’s ability to sustain tourism, absorb carbon emissions, prevent pandemics, and support life. It also underlines Travel & Tourism’s key challenges, which the sector must be overcome, and sets out, what I believe, is a huge potential to address biodiversity loss, and with it, climate change.
These are indeed worrying times – heatwaves are exhausting fresh water supplies, agricultural crops are failing, fish stocks dying, and wildfires destroying vast expanses of nature and people’s homes. There is no doubt that we need to reverse our exploitative and unsustainable ways and seek a future where humanity lives in harmony with nature.
Sounds great in theory, right? But with society and geo-political tensions currently taking us in the wrong direction, could this just be wishful thinking? Or is the solution yet to be fully realised?
I believe that the solution lies with responsible and sustainable tourism.
Take the last couple of years as an example: COVID-19 took hold across the world, people no longer travelled, and the tourism revenues that sustain local livelihoods and protect fragile nature, dried up. The devastating loss of income and an inability to access nutritious food, caused many local people (especially those that live alongside nature) to return to harvesting wildlife and natural resources for survival. With nature-based tourism operations suspended, wildlife poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and the degradation of nature by opportune industries caused widespread biodiversity loss – to an extent not previously seen.
These alarming outcomes demonstrate the relevance and power of tourism.
Just through its operation alone, tourism has an ability to sustain community resilience and wellbeing, while also providing for nature’s health. Consider then its full potential if efforts were directed to lessen operation impact, and support nature-enhancing actions. Imagine the extent of the benefits that could be achieved!
The WTTC ANIMONDIAL report, “Towards Nature Positive Travel & Tourism”, highlights these mutual dependencies as well as the business case for a Nature Positive approach. It encourages Travel & Tourism to assess and better manage its environmental impacts, while also identifying nature-related opportunities to restore, or regenerate nature. Within the publication, this process has been called “Nature Positive Tourism”.
Recognising that pre-COVID tourism revenues contributed to over 10% of global GDP, and nature-based tourism generated upwards of US$600 billion in direct in-country expenditures a year, that supported over 21 million jobs, there appears huge potential for Travel & Tourism to drive Nature Positive change. Managed well, Travel & Tourism can reverse the environmental impacts of COVID, bring greater value to nature, and help to convince even the most disengaged of communities and governments to better protect their natural heritage.
Using the “Towards Nature Positive Travel & Tourism” report as a springboard, the WTTC and ANIMONDIAL hope to work with the UN Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and the IUCN, and others, to position Travel & Tourism as a key player in supporting global efforts to protect our planet’s natural wonders – in effect, to become ‘GUARDIANS OF NATURE’.
ANIMONDIAL’s Nature Positive Tourism services are available for any business keen to adopt a Nature Positive approach. These services range from an evaluation tool to assess operational impact on biodiversity, risk mitigation tools, such a nature-based product ‘healthcheck’, and a matchmaker service to find biodiversity and animal protection partners to fit business need.
Adopting a Nature Positive Tourism approach can be as easy as ABC …
- Assess your business operations and activities against the five-drivers of biodiversity loss.
- Build a Nature Positive approach that integrates biodiversity safeguards throughout the business and its operations.
- Complement your actions to mitigate nature-related impacts with measurable opportunities to better protect and restore nature.
- Develop destination biodiversity partnerships with NGOs, educational institutions, or government agencies to halt any exploitation or degradation of the natural world, and restore nature lost.
- Empower your employees, destination partners and suppliers, affected communities and customers through simple yet informative communication to encourage the better protection of animals and nature.
» Sign up to ANIMONDIAL’s Animal Footprint initiative to discover your environmental impact.
The power of collaboration between businesses and charities to change the world
Following on from our last blog on the topic of responsible vs sustainable tourism, and coinciding with the upcoming launch of our very own Animal Protection Network, it seems fitting to start 2020 on the topic of social impact collaboration (or corporate social responsibility as it’s historically been known).
So what is ‘social impact’?
It is undeniable that some of the biggest solutions to global problems require positive collaboration. Each of us, in all our various roles (as citizens, employees, parents, consumers, and community members) have an intrinsic role to play in creating these solutions. Our decisions in life, at home and in business, can create social impact: A significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social challenge.
In the case of ANIMONDIAL, we exist to do just that – to make a significant, lasting change for the better protection of animals in tourism, and the ecosystems and communities that rely upon them.
I remember when I once asked Daniel (co-Director of ANIMONDIAL) what inspired him. He shared an experience during a zoo investigation many years before, when he had come across a bear, alone in a barren cage. He relayed that the bear had nothing – nothing to stimulate him – he was lifeless and despondent. That was until, a small leaf floated through the iron bars, and the bear suddenly came to life, grasped the leaf with his paws and played with it. Repeated pouncing on top of it. He was overjoyed. That was until the wind blew the leaf through the iron bars, out of the cage, and out of reach. It was as if the leaf had never happened. The bear returned to the lifeless state. One simple leaf had rekindled his spirit momentarily. The episode had reaffirmed Daniel’s purpose, to strive to improve animal welfare and spare animals such unnecessary suffering.
I met Daniel whilst working for an international animal protection organisation, where I headed up corporate fundraising, and he led on the animal welfare, political and tourism strategy. It was this chance setting that ignited our shared vision to protect animals in tourism and would then result in the foundations of our bespoke social purpose.
Businesses want to be involved with charities in developing solutions to complex problems and I’ve seen a number of them make valuable commitments to partner in an effort to do good, most as part of our work at ANIMONDIAL: Etihad Airlines, Mind UK, Allianz, Uber, STA Travel, Kuoni, Marie Curie, Make A Wish and Jaguar Land Rover. Here is your business case:
With the rise of socially conscious consumers – Millennials and Gen Z, fast becoming the most dominant consumers in society, more businesses are becoming aware of the need to demonstrate their social impact. But this goes deeper that the promise of post-recession Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and aims to tackle the root cause, rather than applying a band-aid. Now a business can truly become the hero and showcase its inspiring commitment.
ANIMONDIAL exists to support travel businesses to become leaders for responsible animal-based tourism, not only demonstrating positive branding and enhanced PR and public engagement, but also by proactively making an impact on the ground.
Simon Sinek, British-American author and motivational speaker stated: ‘People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.’
Recent surveys have proven the value of these words:
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- 91% of global citizens expect companies to do more than make a profit; they believe companies need to proactively act responsibly and address issues (Better Business Bureau, 2016)
- 71% of people are more likely to buy holidays from companies that care (ComRes Survey 2017)
- 90% of travellers are concerned about animal welfare (Thomas Cook, 2019)
Travel and tourism can reach into the most remote and isolated destinations. Through partnering with trusted NGO projects around the world, you can offer arguably the biggest social impact of any industry on the protection of animals and communities. This support does not just have to be financial; it can be far greater than that! Consider including projects into itineraries. For example, our partners Mahouts Elephant Foundation offer an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience of ‘glamping’ in the Thai forests, walking with elephants and eating local cuisine around the campfire with indigenous people.
Or support them at a distance through in-kind donations or promotion to customers. Etihad Airways chose creative methods of charitable support including the optional donation of air miles, the sale of the charity’s bracelet onboard, and the promotion of its work in-flight. In return, Etihad benefitted from inspiring content for customers and colleagues, the development of their anti-wildlife trade policy, and the promotion of the company as leaders in the protection of animals and communities.
Or how about considering responsibility through your supply chain? World Cetacean Alliance offers a trusted Responsible Whale and Dolphin Watching Certification Scheme for suppliers of said experiences; The Humane Society runs a Forward Food initiative, which encourages businesses to ‘put more plants on plates’ through sustainable, healthy and compassionate menu choices. Now how about that for an inspiring in-flight meal alternative?
This month, I attended the New York Travel Show, where I was asked to join a panel hosted by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) to discuss how adventure travel can become a source for meaningful good. Travel and travel operators have the power to inspire a global movement of conscientious conservation, thus educating, encouraging and empowering travellers to do the right thing. If 60% of ATTA members are outbound operators, taking US citizens to other parts of the world, their members provide the means to inspire travellers to care for global destinations and thus help solve some of the biggest issues – from sustainability, to animal welfare, child protection and community empowerment. In return, their businesses will have eyes and ears on the ground, and become more highly regarded as one that listens to its customers and cares for the planet.
So what steps can you, as a travel business or individual, now take?
- Consider what big issues you would like to focus upon solving.
- Consider what social impact you are able and driven to make to solve these issues.
- Consider a strategic NGO partnership with a perfect project to help you solve this issue and help you make dramatic impact on the ground.
- Contact us to get all the answers through a FREE 30 minute consultation!
Our goal at ANIMONDIAL is to inspire travel industry colleagues to consider what positive impact your company can make on the planet and which NGOs of shared purpose you could partner with to maximise that impact.
After all, it’s “social” impact! So let’s get together, businesses and charities, and work together.
Sustainable vs Responsible Tourism – that is the question?
(Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals)
As we approach the end of 2019, and look forward to the seasonal festivities, there is no better time to reflect, and consider our social impact. In particular, how our actions are benefiting, or could do more to benefit, the community and the environment on which we depend. In the tourism sector, this is usually referred to as sustainable or responsible tourism. Both terms are becoming more popular and more relevant, but is this just greenwashing, or actually part of a revived ‘green revolution’?
A week ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) annual conference on the island of Terceira in The Azores. The event, hosted by GSTC and The Azorean Government, attracted over 250 people from 42 countries to this remote Atlantic island, to discuss sustainable destination tourism. Fittingly, the occasion was marked by The Azores receiving a destination’s sustainability award. Of course, any destination that fulfils recognised sustainability criteria should be applauded, but is it right to assume that this includes both sustainable AND responsible outputs? Recognising that it is possible to be sustainable, without necessarily being responsible. This is a fact that is often overlooked by an industry that is trying to do the right thing.
Sustainability refers to the ability to maintain an activity at a certain rate or level (i.e. the availability of flights to The Azores), whilst responsibility refers to taking a conscious decision and accepting the consequences of one’s actions (i.e. a heightened carbon footprint). Noting that this was a particular concern of the delegates of the GSTC conference, many of whom had to take a minimum of two flights to travel to Terceira. This sort of dilemma applies to animal-based activities too: for example, whilst it may be considered sustainable to keep dolphins in captivity – recognising that wild dolphins and whales continue to be caught from the wild to sustain the captive population – it is questionable whether is it a responsible act, noting that studies indicate that the welfare of these animals may be compromised.
In my opinion, there should never be a question of one or the other (sustainability vs responsibility), but instead a consideration and a combination of both values. Whereby the assessment of status and performance, decisions taken, or terms used, include both sustainability and responsibility criteria. In order to maximise our benefits and minimise our negative impacts (on a destination), we must therefore a) ensure our activities can be sustained but, b) that these cannot be at the detriment of the resource upon which it relies, and c) that it does not directly, or indirectly cause irreversible damage. The business case is also attractive: minimised negative impacts = more customers = increased customer satisfaction and loyalty = increased customer expenditure and profit (University of Surrey). Establishing both these values into the operations and activities in the travel destination, business, or conference, is therefore the obvious way to go.
There is a great deal of advice and guidance available to facilitate this sustainable and responsible approach. Whether your destination or business is embarking on its first tentative steps of a brand-new journey or needing help to refine an already trodden path, there are a number of resources to guide you on your way. For general advice, there are the GSTC Criteria that ‘serve as the global baseline standards for sustainability in travel and tourism’, with its Destination criteria (GSTC-D) (December 2019) including baseline measures on wildlife interactions and animal welfare in tourism. ANIMONDIAL is pleased to have inputted and advised on this content.
For general guidance on wildlife interactions and animal welfare, ABTA’s Animal Welfare Guidelines is recommended. Today, ABTA has launched the 2nd edition of the Guidelines and ANIMONDIAL is pleased to have contributed, ensuring that the latest evidence has been taken into account (abta.com/animalwelfare).
For bespoke impartial advice and guidance that is aligned with your unique business model and brand identity, ANIMONDIAL provides a variety of services. These include policy development and integration, a procurement health check, training and internal comms guidance. In addition to minimising any negative impact, ANIMONDIAL can also help to maximise the benefits through introductions to our carefully selected NGOs, projects and experiences. These provide travel businesses the opportunity to offer unique experiences that also make a positive difference to animals involved in tourism.
So, this Christmas, and into 2020, consider adopting BOTH sustainability and responsibility criteria and support, financially or in-kind, one of ANIMONDIAL’s trusted NGO partners.
Wishing you an enjoyable Christmas season and a successful 2020!
In 2020, ANIMONDIAL will be relaunching its Animal Protection Network providing a portfolio of carefully selected NGOs, animal-based projects and experiences. Contact us for more information.
ANIMONDIAL: Bringing compassion to animals in tourism
On World Tourism Day (27th September) there is no better time to take stock and consider our actions, the implications of our actions, or the consequences of not taking any action at all.
Ill-thought through actions, can cause irreparable damage, whereby tourism has negatively impacted on the environment, natural habitats, people and wildlife, but when managed well, tourism can be a force for good.
It is indeed heartening to see many tourism businesses now embracing a responsible and sustainable approach. This is evidenced to deliver cultural, social, economic and environmental benefits and influence meaningful change. In my capacity as an animal welfare in tourism specialist, with over a decade of experience, I have seen how commercial interests have eclipsed animal welfare concerns. But I have also had the pleasure of working with businesses, such as Thomas Cook, DER Touristik, STA Travel, Audley Travel and Collette, that strive to make a difference by placing animal welfare on their priority list. Importantly, however, animal protection should never be regarded as a ‘green’ option, or a sacrifice of profit, on the contrary evidence indicates that protecting animal welfare throughout the supply chain makes business sense, and enhances reputation and profit.
I believe the main obstacle preventing more travel businesses from adopting animal protection measures, is a general lack of understanding of the complex topic, and an overpowering stigma that making such a commitment will subject the business to intense scrutiny and challenge. It certainly does not have to be that way!
I established ANIMONDIAL, the animal welfare in tourism consultancy, to provide the means for travel businesses to better understand animal welfare, and how to better manage animal activity within the supply chain, whilst respecting commercial interests and brand identity. Our services include a comprehensive review of current practices, supportive training, animal welfare auditing services, and impartial, practical guidance to help businesses make informed decisions on the products they sell.
Tiger Temple in Thailand (Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals)
With more pressures than ever on tourism businesses ‘to do the right thing’ and ‘end the exploitation of animals’, it is a measured, but strategic approach that is required. Just delisting once popular animal excursions or activities as ‘unacceptable’ practices overnight, is likely to cause greater problems. Such action often leaves the in-destination animal attractions, established to meet the demand of inbound tourism, to pick up the pieces and find a tangible solution. I feel that such an outcome is irresponsible. Firmly believing that international tourism should not turn its back on the attractions that it helped to create, and make profit, but use their influence to enforce change.
On this World Tourism Day, ANIMONDIAL considers the biggest challenges for animals in global tourism and encourages travel businesses not to walk away from the problems, but to instead be part of the solution.
By example, in my first Blog, I focused on the outcomes of the elephant riding boycott; reporting that the well-intentioned campaigning against the activity, had in fact caused more complex animal welfare and public safety concerns. Importantly, supplier delisting has not ended elephant riding, on the contrary it is still widely available, and there are now wider concerns over the promotion of misinformation, exploitation, and obscured activity.
The elephant ‘tourist’ camps were established to accommodate the 2,000 displaced, conditioned elephants from timber extraction activity in Thailand in 1989. By the late 1990s, the concept had been established and these elephant experiences soon become the most popular tourist attraction in Thailand, influencing similar activity elsewhere. Today, there are thought to be over 300 elephant ‘tourist’ camps, 4,700 captive elephants and an equal number of mahouts in just Thailand alone, all reliant on the travel industry. Delisting the product is therefore unlikely to safeguard the welfare of the elephants and the mahouts, and consequently an alternative approach must be found.
ANIMONDIAL positions itself at the forefront of such challenges. In fact, working with stakeholders, we are developing a solution for the captive elephant industry in SE Asia that we believe will improve standards, phased-out bad practice, modify the offering and maintain a viable industry for all to benefit (including the elephants!). Expect an update in my next Blog.
This is just one example of many where we feel we can make a difference and I certainly welcome the collaboration with businesses, NGOs and academics in identifying and delivering viable solutions to such recurring animal welfare problems that continue to challenge the global travel industry.
This November, the British Travel Association, ABTA, is likely to publish its revised Animal Welfare Guidelines. Updating the 1 st Edition, published in 2013. I have had the pleasure of working with ABTA, and many of its members, in the development and delivery of their animal welfare commitment for many years. This comprehensive guidance on animal welfare in tourism is a ‘must have’ resource for all travel businesses. However, just a word of caution and encouragement – please take care when considering your actions and the implication of those actions. Clearly it will take time to not only understand the complexities of animal activity and the dependence on some for communities’ livelihoods, but also that the consequences of not taking any action to try to influence positive change, may well have wider repercussions.
Noting that more than 90% of tourists have said it is important for their holiday company to take animal welfare seriously, and the fact that there is impartial guidance readily available, travel businesses now have the means to demonstrate their achievements beyond the pure acceptance of this principle.
Please do not hesitate to contact us to learn more about how ANIMONDIAL’s services can help your travel business deliver an inspirational animal welfare commitment.
Animals in tourism: the importance of choosing appropriate product
This August, as millions of tourists enjoy the excursions offered during their seasonal holiday, travel companies deliberate over their 2020 product offerings. Selecting the right excursions or attractions is essential, not only to ensure vendors meet brand expectations, but further that safeguards are in place to protect against risk. This includes the selection of animal-based experiences, whereby making the wrong choice, as highlighted in my previous Blog, could heighten risk and damage reputation. With increasing talk about animal welfare in tourism, and it is an important topic to consider for product procurement managers.
I have been working with the travel industry since 2004, when I helped create the first guidance for travel businesses on animal welfare in tourist attractions. Since then, animal welfare has risen through the priority rankings and is now included in the sustainable tourism shortlist.
Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Collette Travel, John Sutherland, makes the case:
“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. We strive to hold ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to how we interacted with animals.”
As a Director of ANIMONDIAL, which works with travel companies to better manage tourism’s impact on animals, it is clear to me that these businesses want to do all they can to protect animals. However, this becomes a problem when considering the complex needs of the different animal species involved, the board spectrum of activities on offer, knowing where to start with hundreds of products, or what information source to use. It can be difficult to know who to trust.
ANIMONDIAL is a good place to start. We take an impartial approach, adapted to your needs and brand identify, and coupled with decades of knowledge and experience in the applied animal welfare science, ANIMONDIAL is the animal welfare in tourism specialist.
“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,” explains John Sutherland. “That’s why we chose to work with ANIMONDIAL because we were confident that we will be empowered to make the right decisions.”
Making the right choices, establishing and promoting policy to protect animal welfare, and positively engaging your vendors, or suppliers, to encourage good practice, is the way to go. Taking these steps is likely to enhance brand, increase ticket sales and influence wider, permanent industry change that you can shout about.
Emma Snipp, Head of Safety and Responsible Tourism at STA Travel, recalls:
“Daniel has provided us with invaluable guidance on our product portfolio. With Daniel’s support we have improved the welfare of animals in tourism throughout the STA Travel supplier chain and raised awareness of STA Travel’s stance on animal welfare with consumers and the wider travel industry”
ANIMONDIAL can indeed help travel businesses embed animal welfare safeguards throughout the functions of the business. Together with the UK travel company, Rickshaw Travel, ANIMONDIAL has produced the Animal Welfare in Tourism Starter Kit. Specifically aimed at small and medium-sized travel companies, the step-by-step guide provides impartial advice and practical guidance on how to get started and understand animal welfare in the context of tourism.
“ANIMONDIAL’s insight and clear expertise on animal welfare in tourism, has significantly improved our understanding of the issues at stake. Their guidance in reviewing our animal experiences and helping us develop our animal welfare policies has been invaluable.” – Jim Millwood, Audley Travel.
Furthermore, the ANIMONDIAL partnership with the Preverisk Group provides a range of additional invaluable services for the travel industry, combining Health & Safety knowledge with animal welfare expertise to create a resourced of auditing excellence. Whether that be excursions to view orangutans in Borneo, a visit to a captive animal facility, a donkey ride to a historic site, or a whale-watching experience, our all-in-one services provide for all animal welfare protection needs.
John Sutherland concludes:
“We hope that other tour operators and the travel industry at large will join Collette in ensuring that we are all traveling in harmony with nature.”
ANIMONDIAL’s Starter Kit consists of a guidance manual for business-wide use, and a film specifically produced to aid product management and sales teams. This comes with an offer of a FREE initial consultation to find out how we can best support the individual needs of your business. Reserve your copy here.
Get in touch now to learn more about ANIMONDIAL’s services.