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Abstract
Simple SummaryTourists who visit elephant tourism venues (ETVs), and other wildlife attractions, can influence the activities offered at these venues by positive and negative word-of-mouth. When a person has a good experience and they tell their family and friends, or leave reviews online, this can influence people to participate in the activity. The same is also true when a person has a bad experience; although, in this instance, they can influence people not to participate in the activity, limiting the possible success of that venue. Generally, tourists seem to prefer to visit ETVs that allow elephants to behave naturally over those that make their elephants entertain tourists. Therefore, we visited twelve ETVs in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and compared the opinions of tourists who visited riding and non-riding venues towards the use of captive elephants for entertainment. We found that tourists who reported a preference for ETVs with higher welfare standards had personally seen elephants being treated poorly. Additionally, higher welfare standards may positively affect tourists’ satisfaction with their experience. Therefore, tourists can influence the activities offered at ETVs by demanding better living conditions for elephants and only financially supporting ETVs with higher welfare standards.Consumer satisfaction and preference can be integral in influencing and solidifying change in user-driven industries such as tourism. High satisfaction rates are imperative to the continual success of a venue as satisfaction determines the likelihood of repeat business and positive recommendations to friends, family and online review forums. Tourist preference for ecocentric tourism venues, over anthropocentric ones, appears to be increasing in elephant tourism venues (ETVs) in Thailand. To explore this, we visited twelve ETVs in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and compared the preferences and satisfaction of tourists who visited riding and non-riding venues toward the use of captive elephants in an entertainment setting. We found that tourists visited riding and non-riding ETVs for similar reasons, primarily due to recommendations from friends and reviews, and because the venue had a good reputation. Tourist preference for higher welfare standards was observed at venues where participants directly observed poor treatment of the elephants. Tourist satisfaction may be impacted by higher elephant welfare standards; therefore, tourists have the ability to influence the elephant tourism industry by demanding better living conditions for elephants and only financially supporting ETVs with higher welfare standards.
Highlights
In 2018, global wildlife tourism generated over five times the income of the illegal wildlife trade [1]
Experiencing elephant tourism activities is a major motivation for tourists visiting Thailand, in Chiang Mai Province which holds the highest number of elephant tourism venues (ETVs) nationwide [33]
While reviews can be helpful in determining which attraction to visit, most tourists have a flawed perception of the welfare implications of wildlife tourism venues; many leave positive reviews for venues with lower welfare standards, further encouraging potential visitors to support these ETVs [38]
Summary
In 2018, global wildlife tourism generated over five times the income of the illegal wildlife trade [1]. The poor treatment and welfare of animals used in wildlife tourism attractions has resulted in considerable outrage and motivated calls for action (for example, [6]). Anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, are structured around whether or not humans are considered to occupy the centre of moral concern. Human-centred, worldview holds that nature and wildlife are commodified and are valued primarily by their use to humans. This worldview is predominant in Western societies and assumes that humans are the preeminent species, superior to all others. An ecocentric, or life-centred, worldview holds that all life has intrinsic value, regardless of its relationship to humans
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