special report
TUI GROUP
TUI has had an animal welfare policy for many years, so it was natural for it to be one of the first companies to start auditing its venues in line with ABTA’s Global Welfare Guidelines for Animals in Tourism, launched in 2013. Prompted by this work, and influenced by its partnership with
World Animal Protection and the Born Free Foundation, in July 2015 TUI decided to withdraw completely from elephant riding and elephant shows across all its operations — this was achieved by the end of 2016. Instead, TUI offers ‘elephant-friendly excursions where our customers can see and learn about elephants in a way that avoids unnatural behaviours’. The company has a rolling programme of audits, with more than
100 planned over the 2016-17 season. Commenting on its approach, Jane Ashton, director of sustainability, said: “We believe that through audit and a close working relationship with our suppliers, we can meet customer expectations on animal welfare standards.” In addition, the company has set up the TUI Care Foundation,
an independent charitable foundation through which TUI Group invests in sustainability programmes in destinations. Among other initiatives, significant funding has been agreed to protect around 1,500 elephants in Thailand and one million newly hatched turtles across five TUI holiday destinations. A recent project involved helping Tanzanian farmers protect their
crops, and consequently elephants, by surrounding their fields with chilli plants and beehives. Elephants don’t like the pungent odour of chilli and are frightened of bees.
VIRGIN HOLIDAYS
In 2014, as the public became increasingly aware of problems concerning captive cetaceans, Virgin Holidays took the initiative by engaging with its stakeholders to better understand the tourism issues involved. As a result, Virgin pledged to no longer feature attractions
continuing to take whales and dolphins from the ocean and also committed to explore a long term vision for captive cetaceans. In February 2017, in a further announcement welcomed by
animal welfare groups Virgin Holidays made clear it would not be adding any new attractions that feature captive whales and dolphins for theatrical shows, contact sessions (such as ‘swim-with’ programmes) or other entertainment purposes’ to its programme. Virgin also said it would help fund the creation of coastal sanctuaries for whales and dolphins, and promote conservation in their natural habitats. The company did consider completely boycotting venues that had cetaceans in captivity but concluded that this wasn’t the best approach. Virgin puts it this way: “Taking all cetacean attractions off sale might be an easier option but this doesn’t address the needs of the animals currently in captivity. There’s currently a lack of alternative facilities and we want to ensure that any changes are handled sensitively, humanely and at the right pace. It would also take us out of the debate and we’d lose the ability to influence the direction of travel.” A Virgin statement concludes: “We recognise that animal welfare
doesn’t end here: many other species are implicated. There’s lots to do and we’re keen to start with cetaceans, but over time we’ll work to extend our principles to other animals.”
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ABTA Magazine | June 2017
IMAGE: BORN FREE FOUNDATION
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