City Discovery announced yesterday that it will remove tickets to sightseeing activities and venues that feature cruelty to animals, including some of the world’s cruelest wildlife tourist attractions.
City Discovery's CEO Emmanuel Issaurat said the online tours and activities sector had to show leadership on this important issue:
"For too long we have hidden behind the argument that it's not up to us to make ethical judgements on behalf of our customers. That's a very weak argument; we should have our own standards and ethics, and naturally, they should be high. If we can do something to help these defenseless elephants, lions, tigers and dolphins, we must do it. Our only regret today is that we did not move earlier."
City Discovery was established in 2003. The company offers around 8,000 tours and activities in over 700 locations and has over 1 million annual customers – they can make a big difference for animals.
This is a fantastic breakthrough in the online travel sector – we hope that TripAdvisor are listening and taking note.
Change happens when we work together
272,599 people (and counting) have signed our petition to demand TripAdvisor stops selling tickets to cruel wildlife tourist venues. Whilst TripAdvisor are yet to take action, it was this campaign that moved City Discovery to do the right thing for wild animals.
We’re incredibly proud of our supporters for adding their voices and helping to spread the message that wild animals belong in the wild – they are not entertainers.
“City Discovery’s decision to end the sale and promotion of cruel wildlife entertainment attractions is a fantastic result for animals. We hope other travel companies will follow their lead by reaching out to World Animal Protection to discuss how they can help to keep wildlife in the wild, where they belong," said Julie Middelkoop, Global Head of our Wildlife – Not Entertainers campaign.
More travel companies need to act
On top of the 100+ that have already pledged to protect wildlife, we expect many more travel companies will follow in the steps of City Discovery. Do you work for a travel company? Find out how you can become wildlife-friendly.
Sign and share the petition today
City Discovery’s choice to incorporate wild animal welfare into its business model was directly influenced by everyone who has added their name to the petition so far.
The elephants, tigers, lions, monkeys and many other wild animal species suffering in cruel wildlife attractions need us to continue to speak out. Please sign and share the petition now.
