Improving Animal Welfare In The Travel Industry With Global Spirit.

I have been writing about ethical and responsible wildlife tourism for many years now to raise awareness about the many conservation issues involved in the industry and to help travellers avoid unethical and abusive wildlife tourism operators. But it is time to take that next step and not just write about the issues, but to actually help to make a physical change in the industry too. This is why Bemused Backpacker is proud to announce our new service, the Wildlife Tourism Audit and Consultation, in partnership with Global Spirit!

Global Spirit: Animals In Tourism ltd is the only company to specialise in providing expert animal welfare assessments and improvement reports for wildlife tourism businesses. A qualified, expert team offers specialist, independent and impartial audit services for all wildlife tourism providers to support them in making positive changes and complying with industry established animal welfare criteria.

Global Spirit has been established in the industry since 2015, and is the leading authority in providing a gold standard framework for responsible wildlife tourism practices.

Bemused Backpacker’s role is to promote and provide support for those operators who are actively engaged in making positive changes to animal welfare in the tourism industry.

By providing education and information to a large international audience I can show the world the absolute necessity of wildlife tourism and the positive role it can play in conservation by documenting the successes, the setbacks and the positive achievements each organisation is making on their journey toward 100% compliance with the audit process.

By documenting the audit process I can show the world the steps each organisation is taking to make those improvements in an open and transparent way and help travellers make an informed decision on where to have a responsible experience with animals on their travels.

Our aim is to build on Global Spirit’s previous success in raising animal welfare standards across the entire travel and tourism industry, and showcase those animal tourism providers who are reaching for and exceeding their obligations toward being responsible and ethical wildlife operators.

The Positive Impact Of Tourism.

It is no secret that there are plenty of wildlife tourism operators out there that are exploitative and abusive, there are many practices that are just outright wrong and there is no excuse for, and I have led for the boycott and shut down of many of these facilities and practices myself in the past such as the infamous Tiger Temple in Thailand for example. They have no interest in animal welfare and there is no doubt that these facilities should not exist.

It is also important to remember that there are plenty of amazing wildlife tourism operators out there who are doing it right and who do put the animals welfare first, and those should obviously be lauded.

But it is the middle ground where we have the biggest chance to make a huge difference. That grey area where wildlife tourism operators want to do their best and look after the animals but maybe they just need a little guidance. Maybe they need an independent viewpoint on how to make changes for the better or expert assistance with identifying problem areas and practical solutions, perhaps there can even be a reluctance to shed old practices, maybe they simply don’t have the resources that tourism provides. Maybe they have taken a lot of steps to improve animal welfare but aren’t quite getting it right for a whole variety of reasons.

This is where the rigorous audit process pioneered by Global Spirit comes in. The service provides a complete review of current practices and detailed recommendation reports will provide the advice, information and practical steps needed for the effective application of industry standards in wildlife tourism.

The media campaign will show those changes and the positive effect you are having on responsible wildlife tourism to the world. We will show the world exactly how you are making every effort possible to care for the animals that travellers want to see and tell every traveller that this is the type of business that they should come and support.

And this, just as importantly, is where travellers can make a difference too. As much as many operators need to improve and are taking steps to do so, they need to be shown that there is value in that process. It isn’t as simple as just boycotting the bad places and going to the ‘responsible’ animal tourism operators. It is about supporting those operators who are trying to improve but need the resources to do so, it is about showing wildlife tourism operators around the world that upholding the principles of best practice when it comes to animal welfare and investing in the care and conservation of the animals they rely on is going to be worthwhile and profitable for them in the long run.

Creating Positive Change.

Together we hope to increase engagement in genuinely ethical and responsible wildlife tourism, offering greater opportunity for the travel and tourism industry to have a positive impact on animal welfare and conservation and encourage all wildlife attractions and operators to work towards implementing improved practices.

And we hope that you – as travellers – will support us in making those changes by supporting those wildlife and animal tourism providers who are making the effort to do better, who are making positive steps toward caring for the animals their industry relies on.

Together we are looking forward to supporting the wildlife tourism industry along a clear path to change, and showing the world the true positive impact that travel can have.

Did you enjoy this article? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below or on my Facebook or Twitter pages and please feel free to share it with any or all of the social media buttons. If you want to get more great backpacking tips, advice and inspiration, please subscribe to updates via email in the box to your right.

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