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TripAdvisor will ban ticket sales of some animal attractions
Saturday, 12 Oct, 2016
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TripAdvisor has announced it will stop promoting and selling attractions that offer experiences with wild animals or endangered species held in captivity.
These include activities such as elephant rides, swimming with dolphins and tiger petting which have previously been sold on its activities service Viator.
TripAdvisor has also set up a wildlife tourism information portal, in collaboration with animal welfare groups to make site users more aware of animal welfare issues.
"We believe the end result of our efforts will be enabling travelers to make more thoughtful choices about whether to visit an animal attraction and to write more meaningful reviews about those attractions," said TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer.
The new policy will be fully implemented by early 2017 and affected service providers will be able to appeal any blacklisting to prove they can adhere to the new policy.
Tickets for zoos and aquariums will still be available to book along with certain voluntourism projects at animal reserves.
TripAdvisor spent several months in consultation with animal welfare groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Global Wildlife Conservation to devise the new policy.
"TripAdvisor is a leader in the industry and we understand and applaud that this is a precedent-setting move," Stephanie Shaw, corporate liason officer at PETA.
"TripAdvisor’s competitors and others within the travel industry will take note of this, and we hope and expect that many other companies will follow."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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