US travel site inspired by our TripAdvisor breakthrough stops selling tickets to cruel wildlife venues
American travel company Your African Safari (YAS) contacted us for advice and support in making this bold move after learning of TripAdvisor’s recent commitment to protect animals
"By encouraging tourists who love wild animals to see them safely on tours and safaris in the wild, it’s helping to make cruel wildlife tourist attractions a thing of the past." - Our wildlife campaign manager, Elizabeth Hogan
Your African Safari will stop offering cruel wildlife attractions, including elephant rides and walks with lions. We helped YAS identify the kinds of attractions it needed to remove from its site to make this shift for wild animals.
YAS’ decision is another positive step towards ending the wildlife tourist entertainment industry for good.
Change within the tourism industry
Thanks to 558,000 amazing supporters who signed our petition, TripAdvisor committed to stop selling tickets to some of the world’s cruellest wildlife activities in October last year. It was this huge moment in the travel industry to help protect wild animals, and this inspired YAS to make the decision and contact us for expertise and support.
Your African Safari lists more than 3,000 tours in Africa on its site, features over 2,100 tour operators, 1,500 reviews, and over 10,000 safari photos.
Your African Safari founder Jennifer Goetz said:
"YAS is pleased to work with organizations such as World Animal Protection to make positive, sustainable changes for animals and to help educate tourists on the various safari packages on offer.
"Most visitors wish to preserve and protect the animals they see on safari, yet many tourists aren’t aware of the cruelty behind the scenes of activities like elephant-back rides and walks with lions."
Tourists ride elephants in southern Africa
Our wildlife campaign manager, Elizabeth Hogan, said:
"Your African Safari is setting a fantastic example for online travel sites and tour operators around the world.
"By encouraging tourists who love wild animals to see them safely on tours and safaris in the wild, it’s helping to make cruel wildlife tourist attractions a thing of the past."
Gaining momentum
Your African Safari’s decision represents a growing movement in the travel industry. The company hopes even more businesses will make a change like this one for wild animals:
Goetz added: "[We] hope that others in the travel industry will join us in committing to promote only tour packages that are in the animals’ best interest."
Elephant-friendly travel
We’ve already helped many travel companies implement better animal welfare into their business models. By signing our Elephant-friendly pledge, 166 travel companies around the world have already committed to stop selling tickets to cruel elephant rides and shows.
If you work for a travel company and want to make a commitment for wild animals just like YAS and TripAdvisor, email us to find out how to become Elephant-friendly.
Go to our Wildlife. Not entertainers page to learn more about the campaign.
