As we have all experienced the world over, the Covid 19 pandemic has created utter chaos in every ones lives. All levels of industry have suffered immensely. As the world slowly and cautiously starts to reopen, it will be the travel industry that will be most affected. Many people are looking to get away and escape the months of confinement. But how is the way we will travel change? One of the fastest growing trends in world has been the concept of ethical tourism. Hopefully the disruption in the travel industry presents a golden opportunity to reset and cement socially minded travel as the new normal. There are many tourist experiences that include an interaction with animals. There is also the controversial debate about the origins of the virus in a wet market in Wuhan. Maybe these wet markets will prompt some soul-searching about the way we treat wildlife, particularly in a tourist setting. The travel industry before the coronavirus was booming. But not all tourist operators were making an ethical profit. According to the Coalition for Ethical Wildlife Tourism (CEWT), “more than 500,000 wild animals worldwide, including elephants, sloths, tigers and dolphins, are suffering for tourist entertainment”. The tales of suffering are myriad, from cruelly chained elephants and drugged tigers, to smuggled exotic species and punishing breeding programmes of wild animals – all to satisfy a global demand, which CEWT says tops 110 million visitors annually. Selfies may be the reason. People are driven by the allure of getting those selfies and seeing animals up close, thinking of it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Stephanie Schuttler, a wildlife biologist, blogger and podcaster. But there is hope that growing awareness of the conditions that many animal attractions make their exhibits endure is leading to a move away from exploitative tourist
As we have all experienced the world over, the Covid 19 pandemic has created utter chaos in every ones lives. All levels of industry have suffered immensely. As the world slowly and cautiously starts to reopen, it will be the travel industry that will be most affected. Many people are looking to get away and escape the months of confinement. But how is the way we will travel change? One of the fastest growing trends in world has been the concept of ethical tourism. Hopefully the disruption in the travel industry presents a golden opportunity to reset and cement socially
