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A quantitative investigation of tourists' ethical attitudes toward animal-based attractions
Abstract
Despite the considerable incorporation of animals in entertainment and leisure venues, only limited efforts have been geared towards exploring the ethical aspects of using animals in these initiatives. This lack of attention is especially evident in the tourism literature, despite the great relevancy of animal-based attractions to the tourism industry. Consequently, the purpose of the current research was to fill the gap in the literature by investigating tourists' attitudes toward various animal-based attractions, using survey that was administered to tourists in the Central Florida area. The central findings of the study concerned the prominent aspects of tourists' ethical evaluation of animal-based attractions. The tourists expressed the highest agreement with the roles of the attractions in conservation, in family-oriented experience, in education, and as an alternative to nature. They also expressed a clear animal welfare approach, as they put the greatest importance on theway the animals are treated and trained by their keepers among conditions for ethical operations. Nevertheless, it was found that the key to developing positive attitudes toward attractions is the conviction in general arguments in favor of their presence, while specific sites' attributes seem to be more limited in their influence on the tourists' overall attitudes. Overall the study revealed some interesting findings with important implications for both research and practice, including specific recommendations for the management and marketing functions in animal-based attractions, especially with regard to potential steps for the purpose of improving and enhancing their ethical image among tourists.
... Evidence for this consists in the fact that in 2019 there were 907 zoos and aquaria throughout the world (Fisken, 2019), and approximately 2.6 million animals are held captive in these zoos and aquaria in 80 countries (Winter, 2020). In addition, the range of captive-based sites is broader, including circuses, safari parks, animal theme parks, animal racing venues, rodeos, and bullfights (Shani, 2012). Despite a growing interest in animal welfare, the implications of the animal-based tourism industry, and the animal welfare risks related to such activities (von Essen et al., 2020;Winter, 2020), new modes of animal-based tourism proliferate (von Essen et al., 2020). ...
... Despite a growing interest in animal welfare, the implications of the animal-based tourism industry, and the animal welfare risks related to such activities (von Essen et al., 2020;Winter, 2020), new modes of animal-based tourism proliferate (von Essen et al., 2020). In fact, the offer of encounters with wildlife, even animals in captivity, is likely to increase the likelihood that potential travelers will select a certain travel package (Shani, 2012). ...
... The review of research into animal ethics in tourism by Winter (2020) shows that most of the articles published relate to conceptual research methods if animal ethics and case studies; there are only four that used a questionnaire as a research method. For the present research, a questionnaire from a previous study conducted by Shani in 2012 in the article, A quantitative investigation of tourists' ethical attitudes toward animal-based attractions, was distributed. The authors decided to use that questionnaire considering that their questions remain valid today and cover a wide range of issues related to the use of animals in tourist attractions. ...
Research in animal ethics and Generation Z in the field of tourism is a little-explored topic. With a focus on the development of both research fields, the aim of this study was to determine if Generation Z in Spain justifies or rejects the use of animals in tourism attractions, and to establish which specific animal attractions are acceptable for Generation Z and which are not. The results indicated that Generation Z does not justify any of the animal attractions presented in the questionnaire. Generation Z does not accept any of the possible justifications for the existence of animal-based attractions, and all conditions under which animals must be treated at those attractions are important for Generation Z respondents. Females attach greater importance than males to all animal treatment conditions and express a greater rejection of all attractions as well as all justifications presented in the questionnaire.
... Entertainment was identified as one of the areas that received fairly negative attitudes; especially circuses, rodeos, animal racing and bullfighting are perceived as morally unacceptable (Furnham et al., 2003;Knight & Barnett, 2008;Knight et al., 2004). Nevertheless, safaris, aquariums and zoos are perceived as acceptable by majority of the population, since they have an educational and conservational component and do not include activities potentially killing or injuring the animals (Shani, 2012). ...
... Different attitudes within the same area were also reported in animal testing and animals used for fashion (Shani, 2012). For instance, people are inclined to support animal use for medical research regardless if the result has a lethal effect on the animal, yet are opposed to animal use for cosmetic testing purposes (Balls, 1992;Knight & Barnett, 2008;Shani, 2012). ...
... Different attitudes within the same area were also reported in animal testing and animals used for fashion (Shani, 2012). For instance, people are inclined to support animal use for medical research regardless if the result has a lethal effect on the animal, yet are opposed to animal use for cosmetic testing purposes (Balls, 1992;Knight & Barnett, 2008;Shani, 2012). It can be argued that people hold stronger negative views towards the use of animals for decoration purposes such as cosmetics and wearing fur, than towards using animals in the name of scientific research (Knight & Barnett, 2008). ...
Social media offer non-profit organizations a new, convenient, cheap, and wide reach medium to spread their messages, increase awareness and connect with supporters. The main objective of this study is to examine interactions on social media to understand how people engage with the content published by non-profit organizations. This study is set in the context of cruelty-free ethical consumerism and data for analysis were collected from the international non-profit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) official Facebook page. Study points out that lack of awareness and knowledge is one of the main reasons why people do not behave ethically and therefore do not follow the studied organization’s main goal. However, once awareness and information are gained, individual may reach epiphany and willingness to change behaviour. At that point individuals also showed support to organization’s main goal. The research shows that content with informational component received the most engagement on average and supporting comments were prevailing. Informational content is perceived as especially valuable when there is a lack of knowledge about the topic and therefore such content is recommended to non-profit organizations to raise awareness, create new and strengthen relationships with existing supporters.
... Many of the most attractive offers derive directly from nature, from waterfalls and mountains to flora and fauna. One area which has increased in popularity over the past decades is that of the animal world as animal-based attractions and wild-life related tourism has continued to grow (Alie, 2009;Cohen, 2009; Moorhouse, Dhlsjo, Baker, D'Cruz, Macdonald, & Davidk, 2015; Shani, 2012;Tremblay, 2001). While hunting, bird-watching, fishing, and swimming with the dolphins was traditional tourist activities, in the past decade, other nature-based, eco-tourism, and responsible animal attractions have emerged such as whale watching or safaris (Shani &Pizam, 2007) where the tourist is educated about the animal and takes a proactive approach in protecting their environment. ...
... Animal-based attractions and wildlife-related tourism belong to the most popular leisure tourism activities, and demand is consistently growing (Cohen, 2009;Moorhouse et al., 2015;Shani, 2012). Despite the growing increase of interest, knowledge, and demand for ethical animal treatment and higher animal welfare standards by consumers (Hughes, 2001), little research has been conducted thus far on the role of animals in the industry and the species and activity-related welfare standards (Bertella, 2014;Fennell, 2014;Hughes, 2001;Shani &Pizam, 2008). ...
... A number of surveys, however, suggest that most Western tourists will attach additional value to WTAs that provide positive conservation, education and animal welfare impacts (e.g. Ballantyne et al., 2009;L€ uck, 2003;Shani, 2012), and that the majority would prefer, all else being equal, to attend beneficial rather than detrimental venues (Moorhouse et al., 2017a). ...
... Existing studies indicate that Western tourists are particularly likely to value WTAs with animal welfare or species conservation benefits (e.g. Ballantyne et al., 2009;L€ uck, 2003;Shani, 2012), but that they will also accept most uses of animals, so long as they consider the animals' wellbeing to be adequately cared for (Fennell, 2012;Shani, 2009). With respect to Asian wildlife tourists, our findings may offer a solution to the seemingly contradictory conclusions of existing studies. ...
Many wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) have negative impacts on animal welfare and species conservation. In the absence of regulation, raising standards requires tourists to create market pressure by choosing to attend WTAs with benefits for wildlife. We surveyed respondents from five countries–China, Australia, Canada, UK, and USA–to quantify how attitudes to captive animals, and towards WTAs’ outputs and standards, may vary with nationality. Our aim was to provide a firm basis for behaviour change interventions to alter current patterns of tourist consumption of WTAs. All respondents agreed on the importance of conservation and animal welfare, but Chinese respondents were twice as likely to believe that WTAs would not be allowed to exist if they were bad for animals, and that WTAs’ promotional materials were reliable indicators of welfare and conservation standards. These findings indicate Chinese respondents had fundamentally similar attitudes to those from the other countries, but differed in how those attitudes were likely to be applied. Chinese tourists may experience more barriers to aligning their actions with their values with respect to WTAs. Removing these barriers may require information campaigns to highlight the lack of regulation, and the unreliability of some WTAs’ promotional materials and tourists’ reviews. © 2018
... Antonioli and Reveley 2005;Dobbs 2000;Webb and Drummond 2001). The paper will then go on to examine the utilization of dolphins in captivity for human leisure and recreation, which is considered an accessible, affordable and safe alternative to wild interactions (Shani 2012). Justification of the practice lies within anthropocentrically based economic, education and well-being advantages for the human side of the interaction, which will be examined before considering the negative effects on the captive cetaceans. ...
... By 2014, there were 2913 dolphins in captivity worldwide (Zimmerman 2015), including 56 orca (Ventre and Jett 2015). The demand for viewing marine mammals in captivity has grown significantly, particularly in recent decades (Kellert 1999), with millions of visitors each year viewing captive marine mammals around the world, as a more available and less risky substitute than interacting with wild dolphins (Shani 2012). This sentiment fits with an anthropocentric view of humans as central, and having rights and preferences that need to be accommodated. ...
Leisure, especially when in nature or involving non-human animals, produces positive benefits for well-being. Understood within the framework of the biophilia hypothesis, nature fulfils inherent human needs and promotes well-being. Assuming leisure is a human right, the link between people’s interactions with nature, leisure activity and biophilia are clear – leisure interaction with animals satisfies fundamental human needs, reinforcing the assumption of leisure as a human right. Nevertheless, the rights of other beings and nature require consideration. This paper examines one particular leisure activity, human interaction with captive dolphins and the impacts of the intersection, both on human and dolphin well-being. Drawing on three main perspectives – animal ethics, animal welfare and environmental ethics – the paper challenges the justification of captivity for leisure. It seeks to balance anthropocentric benefits with a more ecocentric contemplation of dolphins’ entitlement to nature and well-being, in a novel application of the biophilia framework to animals.
... Moorhouse, D'Cruze and Macdonald (2017), recommended that the tourists lack the specialized knowledge on animal well-being and upkeep impacts of Wildlife Tourism Attractions and therefore should be empowered by providing unequivocal assessments of animal welfare impacts. Shani (2012) in their study stated that the tourist agreed to the roles of attractions in conservation, in family type experience and as a choice to nature. The result also focused on the fact that animal well-being activities were given the greatest importance. ...
Purpose: The connection between Tourism and Wildlife and their uses in terms of show and attractions are an age-old practice. In India it is one of the important components during visits to Historical places like Rajasthan. But today the Animal welfare is a significant issue and a matter of high concern. We could see and read many incidents of animal exploitation and hence this study makes a modest attempt to study the tourist's mindset towards the various practices & activities which may fall under the category of tourist responsibility to Animal's wellbeing. We strongly believe that the Tourist will play a very important and vital role in ensuring that these animals are not exploited in the name of Tourism Attraction. Design & Methodology: We surveyed 120 participants who experienced the role of Elephants in the Forts and palaces of Rajasthan using the contacts from pre-visited data collected from 3 well known Travel Agencies. Approach: Statistical tools like One-Way ANOVA (Welch's), is being used to measure and compare significant relationship amongst different variables.
... The involvement of animals in tourism has a long history and sadly, various studies expose endemic exploitation and deceptive practices (Cohen, 2013;Moorhouse et al., 2017;Shani, 2012). While the negative impacts of animal-based tourism dominate the work, a smaller body of literature assesses the positive results of wildlife tourism, including financial and in-kind contributions for conservation, socio-economic incentives for communities, as well as educating visitors to increase their awareness of conservation and/or animal welfare issues (Higginbottom et al., 2001). ...
Animal ethics is a critical concern in the tourism industry with numerous accounts of unethical and exploitative practices. Not-for-profit animal rescue organisations, like Animal Aid Unlimited, offer a counter experience to this largely negative narrative by redefining tourist–animal interactions through volunteer tourism, where visitors help to rescue domesticated street animals, who are rarely included in tourism research. To address the lacuna in the academic literature, this study utilises a multi-method approach to build a case study to explore how such organisations can engage voluntourists to promote animal welfare and rights. Findings show that Animal Aid engages digital technology-enhanced approaches, especially information and communication technologies and social media, to heighten awareness and engagement in animal welfare and rights in part through tourism. The theory is hence proposed that while seemingly incongruous, some niche forms of tourist-animal interactions can support an animal rights ethic. As such, animal rescue tourism emerges as a seemingly distinct and alternative animal-based tourism experience requiring more research, especially in a digital era.
... Occasionally, animals may even be coerced into performing unnatural behaviors (i.e. elephant rides or bear dancing shows) or come into frequent, repetitive contact with unfamiliar human tourists [25][26][27]. For example, Jones (2015) describes an ecotourism attraction in Florida that illegally fed wild alligators to entertain airboat passengers, a practice that encourages alligators to approach humans and thereby increases their likelihood of being reported as a nuisance and killed by wildlife control officers [28,29]. ...
Wildlife tourism attractions (WTA) are popular in the United States, but they may be harmful to the individual animals involved and we question whether they provide benefits to environmental conservation. Most research on the welfare and environmental implications of WTAs focuses on charismatic mammals, with few studies investigating these issues for reptiles. Here we examine alligator wrestling, including its impact on animal welfare and environmental conservation. Using a sample of 94 relevant YouTube videos of alligator wrestling in Florida representing 16 different venues, we coded the environmental and behavioral characteristics evident in each video. We then performed a content analysis of wrestlers’ narration in a subset of 51 videos to analyze the environmental awareness and educational components of alligator wrestling. Our results show systemic welfare harm: 11 venues housed adult alligators together with conspecifics, 96% of alligator wrestling performances facilitated direct contact in the form of physical restraint by one or more human wrestlers, and as many as 96% of the videos did not show a suitable water or waterside features for captive alligators. Furthermore, 12% of performances showed wrestlers flipping alligators onto their backs while 16% showed wrestlers tying alligators’ jaws shut, both of which are known to be acute stressors. Finally, just under half of alligator wrestling commentary (49%) addressed environmental conservation topics, and much of this commentary included contradictory or misleading information that is not likely to benefit alligators in the wild. We argue that alligator wrestling serves no role in promoting positive relationships between humans, animals, and the environment, and instead furthers traditional notions of dominion that undermine welfare and conservation aims.
... In addition, Students have the largest percentage of the visitors 54.2%, and have no income earning this is in agreement with the findings of Adetola et al., (2016) which reported that 52.1% of visitors to University of Ibadan Zoological garden were students and inconsistent with finding of Karanikola et al., (2014) that reported that 60% of the visitors were employed. The study also shows that all the respondents were Nigerians; this is consistent with the finding of Shani, (2012) in Central Florida zoo, USA that reported that 66.9% of visitors were domestic visitors from United State of America and 33.1% were foreign visitors. Most of the visitors were highly educated attaining to tertiary level of education. ...
Abstract
Factors influencing visitors’ choice preference for University of Ibadan Zoological Garden and Agodi Parks and Garden were explored in this study. Data were obtained through the use of well-structured questionnaires administered to the visitors. A total of three hundred and eight four visitors (384) were sampled. Descriptive Statistic and T- test were used for data analysis. Results revealed that majority of the visitors were females, youth, singles and most visitors were educated. Repeat visitors were more and visitation during the festive period was highest. Learning and sightseeing had the highest weighted mean of 82.07, and hence the highest influence on visitors destination choice preference at the University of Ibadan. Tourist destination respect for the natural environment(weighted mean 31.40) and opportunity for rest and relaxation (weighted mean = 31.20)were the major motives for visiting Agodi Parks and Garden. Motivating factors that influence visitors’ destination choice preference to UI Zoo and Agodi Parks and Garden were significantly different. The empirical examination of factors influencing visitors’ choice preference will assist tourist site manager to identify the attributes that are to be promoted so as to match tourist motivations.
Keyword: Motivation, Preference, Choice, Garden, Visitors
... 22). The studies of Shani and Pizam (2009) and Shani (2012) found that this reasoning had resonance with at least some visitors to animal-based attractions, who feel that captive settings offer some advantages to the exhibited wildlife, as they are free from predators, food concerns, and territorial struggles. This might seem (and rightly so) a patronizing human standpoint on animals, yet it does raise the question of whether in this day and age, wildlife in their natural habitats are truly better off than their counterparts in captive sites, especially due to the current global environmental crisis that has had some fatal effects on the world's wildlife population (resulting in the sharp increase in the number of threatened and endangered animal species). ...
Human-nonhuman animal relationship in tourism reveals a dichotomy between tourism prosperity and ethical concerns. For long nonhuman animals have been involved in different forms of tourism activities with functions ranging from entertainment and profit generation to marketing and education. At the same time, recent talks of animal rights and welfare call to ponder on the moral aspects of nonhuman animal involvement. The currently accelerating wave of social awareness of anthropogenic impacts on our globe’s ecosystems only further pushes both researchers and society to reassess human-nonhuman animal relationship within tourism. Within the field of tourism studies, human-nonhuman animal relationship has been predominantly researched from normative ethics perspectives and viewed either through the context of animal captivity or tourist-animal relationship, with little research taking the worker-animal relationship perspective. Theoretically, this study draws upon the normative discourse of academic literature and major animal ethics theories, joining a critical paradigm which highlights the need to shift the research focus away from justification or application of absolute normative principles towards the inquiry of morally problematic situations. It suggests a turn from a monistic viewpoint towards more intersubjective-interpretive approach. This study aims to explore how cognitive and emotional attributes of animal workers in Northern Europe facilitate moral deliberations of the use of nonhuman animals in tourism. After conducting participatory and non-participatory observations during winter period of 2019-2020, the empirical data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 6 tourism animal workers in Finnish Lapland in the winter period of 2020-2021. The data was then analysed through the qualitative interpretive content analysis to facilitate the exploratory disposition of the study. The empirical data of the study indicates that emotional motivations and emotional relationship with nonhuman animals facilitate moral positioning of nonhuman animal labour. At the same time, tourism animal workers utilize certain emotional management mechanisms to cope with the difficulties and specifics of the job. Overall, the results of the study on the theoretical level suggest reflective equilibrium as an approach to achieve an endpoint of moral inquiry.
Wildlife tourism has huge potential to benefit local human populations, and animal welfare and conservation objectives. A substantial proportion of wildlife tourism experiences, however, negatively impact on animals’ welfare and their species’ conservation status. An emerging goal of conservation research is to test conservation social marketing interventions aimed at modifying consumers’ choices. Here we present a preliminary test of demand reduction messaging, designed to combat barriers to Chinese consumers aligning their choice of wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs). We presented an online experimental survey to 1,000 Chinese respondents. Of these 800 were shown treatment statements detailing the impacts of WTAs and how to discern these, and 200 were control respondents. Half of treatment respondents and all of control respondents were then “primed” by asking them introductory questions about WTAs’ likely impacts. We showed all respondents, in random order, 10 mock webpages, mimicking promotional materials for existing types of WTA, five designed to represent beneficial (“good”), and five detrimental (“bad”) WTAs, and asked them to rate how much they would like to visit each.
We found a small effect of treatment information: 5.6% fewer treatment than control respondents gave high scores to bad WTAs, and 5.8% more gave low scores. We found no effect of treatment information on respondents’ scores for good WTAs. After the survey, respondents were shown ratings of each WTAs’ welfare and conservation impacts, and asked to re-assess them. In response 23.5% fewer gave high scores and 28.8% more gave low scores to bad attractions, percentages that were unaffected by the experimental treatment.
Providing upfront, explicit statements regarding the impacts of WTAs and how to discern these, had limited effect on the choices of our Chinese respondents. We recommend conservation marketing campaigns to instead focus on providing visually appealing ratings of WTAs’ likely species conservation and animal welfare impacts.
A review of research on animal ethics and tourism, based on a sample of 74 articles in ten tourism journals is presented. A range of ethics positions was identified including rights, ecofeminist, ecocentric, welfare, utilitarian, and instrumental. Some studies challenge the ontological bases, and therefore the moral considerability of animals used in tourism: speciesism, native/introduced, a wild-captive continuum and domestic animals. Other themes include the harm caused to animals, and an ‘animal gaze’ which commodifies animals as objects. The ethical positions of the tourism industry, regulatory groups and tourists were also identified. Overall, the articles challenge the use of animals for entertainment, and confirm the imperative for a developing body of research in the field of animal ethics.
Many wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) have negative impacts on animal welfare and species conservation. In the absence of regulation, raising standards requires tourists to create market pressure by discerning the likely impacts of WTAs, and choosing to attend those with benefits. We created a novel, experimental survey to examine whether priming tourists to engage with the ethical dimension of their choice of WTA may stimulate them to prefer WTAs that are beneficial for wildlife.
Our experimental survey comprised 10 mock webpages, mimicking promotional materials for existing types of WTA, five designed to represent beneficial (“good”), and five detrimental (“bad”) WTAs. WTAs were presented in random order via an online platform to 3224 respondents - 1614 Chinese in China, and 1610 English speakers in Australia, Canada, UK, and USA - who rated their preference for each. Prior to the survey 1610 respondents, stratified by country, were “primed” by asking them introductory questions about WTAs’ likely impacts.
Primed English-speaking respondents were a mean of 4.1 times more likely to select lower likelihoods of attending bad WTAs, compared with control (unprimed) respondents. Priming had a smaller effect on Chinese respondents, making them 1.5 times more likely to select lower likelihoods of attending bad WTAs. Priming made all respondents more likely to select high likelihoods of attending good WTAs, but the effect was larger for Chinese respondents (2.0 times more likely) than English-speaking respondents (1.2 times more likely).
After the survey respondents were shown ratings of each WTAs’ welfare and conservation impacts, and asked to re-assess each WTA. English speaking respondents were 5–13 times more likely to select lower likelihoods of attending bad WTAs after seeing the ratings, while Chinese respondents were 3–4 times more likely to do so.
We conclude that respondents were able to discern beneficial from detrimental WTAs, and preferred beneficial WTAs when primed to consider the likely impacts of WTAs on wildlife conservation and animal welfare, but that the effect of priming was smaller for Chinese respondents. We recommend prominently hosting accurate information on the likely impacts of WTAs in the fora in which tourists are making their decisions, to direct tourist revenue away from WTAs with poor standards, and towards those that improve individuals’ welfare, and/or support species conservation.
The interest of business tourists in visiting tourist attractions is acknowledged in the tourism industry but there is dearth of research attempting to investigate this phenomenon, specifically in South Africa (SA). This study aims to investigate the interest of domestic business tourists in visiting tourist attractions in Pretoria, SA. This study will deeply explore the broad literature support the selected constructs, namely hotel employee, tourist attractions and behavioural intention, the relationship between these constructs and if business tourist moderates the relationship between the constructs. A quantitative research approach will be adopted. Participants for this study will be domestic business tourists staying at a 3 star hotel. This research approach aims to allow domestic business tourists to score the importance of the identified constructs. Factor analyses, Pearson correlations and moderated multiple regressions will be used to analyse the data, using IBM SPSS 20.0. This study aims to contribute towards filling the existing literature gap in business tourism research. Possible insights regarding the relationship between domestic business tourists, hotel employees and tourist attractions, as well as between domestic business tourists, tourist attractions and behavioural intention can result from this study. Business tourism-and hotel managers may use the findings from this study to develop strategies on how to attract and retain domestic business tourists.
To identify tourists' opinions and attitudes on the use of animals in tourist attractions, a qualitative exploratory study was conducted with three focus groups of tourists who visited Orlando, Florida. The findings indicated that the participants' ethical perceptions of animal-based tourist attractions were made up of three hierarchically ordered layers: (1) general justifications for operating such venues, (2) a belief in the driving forces leading to an ethical operation, and (3) the specific conditions required for the ethical operation of animal-based tourist attractions. The results and their meanings are discussed as a framework for future research in this field.
This paper reports results from a survey of 359 visitors to Hamilton Zoo, New Zealand. The questionnaire comprised items relating to motives for visiting the zoo, and evaluations of attributes, thereby permitting an importance-evaluation approach. The construction of the questionnaire was prompted by zoo management wishing to learn more about what motivated visits, and whether there were perceived deficiencies in visitors' experiences of the zoo. Like other studies (e.g. Turley, 2001) it was concluded that zoos represent an opportunity for family-based trips. However, while some opportunities exist for learning, on the whole visitors were not generally interested in acquiring detailed information about wildlife. Indeed, more importance was attached to the viewing of animals than to the recognition that possibly animals might require 'private places'. These findings prompt a discussion about the extent to which zoos might be able to replace or supplement trips to natural habitats as a means of viewing animals, and concludes that for this to happen significant changes in zoo layout would be required. Additionally, possible implications for zoo management are discussed.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the contribution of animal‐based attractions to ecological causes – particularly wildlife conservation and environmental education – while portraying the debate regarding the legitimacy and effectiveness of these sites.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review gives examples, demonstrating the potential of animal‐based attractions to support the causes of ecological sustainability while raising the challenges, constraints, and limitations in utilizing them to the fullest.
Findings
Opposition to animal‐based attractions is fierce and should be understood and addressed by management and regional associations.
Practical implications
Suggestions for improving the sites' operations are elaborated throughout the paper.
Originality/value
The paper is of value to relevant stakeholders including zoological professionals and animal activists, and it can raise awareness of certain aspects that may not have received adequate attention.
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to discuss the issues of animal rights in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry, and to suggest ethical guidelines for the operation of animal-based attractions. Design/methodology/approach – The issue is presented through an extensive literature review, in addition to current examples and demonstrations from the industry. Findings – For years, the H&T industry has been heavily criticized for its inconsiderate and even cruel use of animals for entertainment purposes. However, there are clear indications, presented in this paper, of a growing tendency to adopt approaches that emphasize animal welfare and even animal rights. Research limitations/implications – The growing awareness of animal rights, the changing public opinion and the influence of animal rights' movements is forcing animal attractions to re-evaluate their attitudes toward the use of animals. Generally, animal attractions should adopt an approach that combines entertainment, education and welfare concerns. Specific guidelines for each component and recommendations are provided. However, this issue requires further discussion and research to clarify key problems. Originality/value – The paper is of value to researchers and practitioners who are interested in the development of H&T ethics regarding the use of animals.
Increasing popularity of marine parks as tourist attractions brought with it a number of concerns. Considerable attention has been paid to investigate issues, such as the ethics of keeping marine mammals in captivity, welfare of captive marine mammals, and the educational and conservational abilities of marine parks. Little research has been conducted to explore the public's awareness and opinions of these issues. Public awareness is an important tool to understand the quality of a marine park's products and services. This study was designed to investigate the public's awareness of welfare of captive marine mammals, educational and conservational purposes of marine parks, and to examine public awareness and opinions of Dunlap and Van Liere's New Environmental Paradigm. A total of 120 respondents from St. Catharines, Canada completed either a visitor or a nonvisitor questionnaire. Results indicated that most people were aware of the issues of welfare of captive marine mammals and educational opportunities offered by marine parks, but showed less awareness of the conservational issues. However, results also indicated that respondents were well aware of, and agree with, the concerns expressed in the New Environmental Paradigm.
Wildlife tourism involves a broad sweep of experiences that includes all of the aspects of the tourism genre with the distinguishing feature of animals as the primary attraction. The uniqueness of Australian wildlife in combination with factors such as remoteness and rarity appear to have provided the ideal context for successful wildlife tourism operations. Barna Mia, located in a large remnant woodland in the central southern wheatbelt of Western Australia, is approximately 165 km southeast of the state's capital, Perth. Dryandra Woodland, the location of Banra Mia consists of a closely grouped and connected cluster of native remnant vegetation blocks. The enclosure is surrounded by electrified, vermin proof fencing to keep feral predators out and the captive fauna in. The results of the visitor survey at Barna Mia suggested the experience provided a great sense of satisfaction amongst respondents. This was both in terms of the overall satisfaction as well as satisfaction with specific parts of the experience. The feeling of being 'in the wild' may have been enhanced by the lack of barriers between visitors and the animals and the absence of constraints on animal movement through the enclosure. Improving the operation of Barna Mia as an attraction in itself and as part of the Dryandra Woodland product may serve to improve its success as an attraction. However, an innately attractive tourism experience cannot work without appropriate integration within the specific wildlife tourism product of Dryandra Woodland, while coordination with tourism on a regional scale is also important.
We are familiar with Black Liberation, Gay Liberation, and a variety of other movements. With Women’s Liberation some thought we had come to the end of the road. Discrimination on the basis of sex, it has been said, is the last form of discrimination that is universally accepted and practised without pretence, even in those liberal circles which have long prided themselves on their freedom from racial discrimination. But one should always be wary of talking of ‘the last remaining form of discrimination’. If we have learned anything from the liberation movements, we should have learned how difficult it is to be aware of the ways in which we discriminate until they are forcefully pointed out to us. A liberation movement demands an expansion of our moral horizons, so that practices that were previously regarded as natural and inevitable are now seen as intolerable.
The objective of this study was to investigate the service quality expectations of the ecotourists by developing an adapted version of the SERVQUAL scale named ECOSERV. Factor analysis revealed six service dimensions: eco-tangibles, assurance, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and tangibles. Ecotourists showed a hierarchy of dimensions relating to ecotourist businesses, the most important being eco-tangibles and the least important tangibles. The findings revealed that ecotourists tend to expect businesses to be environmentally friendly and prefer services that are courteous, informative, and trustworthy. In addition, physical facilities that were environmentally appropriate and equipment that minimizes environmental degradation were found more important to the ecotourists.RésuméLe but de cette étude était d’examiner les attentes de qualité de service de la part des écotouristes en développant une version adaptée de l’échelle SERVQUAL appelée ECOSERV. L’analyse factorielle a révélé six dimensions de service: écotangibles, assurance, fiabilité, aptitude à réagir, empathie et tangibles, dont la plus importante est la dimension des écotangibles et la moins importante est celle des tangibles. Les résultats ont révélé que les écotouristes ont tendance à s’attendre à ce que les entreprises respectent l’environnement et qu’ils préfèrent les services qui sont courtois, instructifs et dignes de confiance. En plus, les installations matérielles qui étaient écologiquement convenables et l’équipement qui minimisait la dégradation de l’environnement avaient plus d’importance pour les écotouristes.
This article begins with analysis of four of the principal ‘modes of engagement’ which articulate the human/wild animal nexus: encounter; representation; presentation; and quasification. It then goes on to focus upon the zoo as a key site of animal presentation and of mass tourism. The argument is presented that the zoo in late modernity is undergoing crucial changes in its legitimating narratives. In addition, it is suggested that zoos are exhibiting a tendency towards Disneyization, which entails the following interlinked features: theming; dedifferentiation of consumption; merchandising; and emotional labour. We illustrate this tendency through the discussion of a variety of contemporary developments in zoos and wildlife parks.
The family group is the predominant social unit within which people choose to spend their leisure time. In recreational contexts, there is a call for better understanding of the influence children have on family group decision making and behaviour. Based upon an empirical, national study of zoo visiting, and visitors’ and latent visitors’ images of traditional UK zoos, this paper explores the role of children as a determinant of demand. The available literature addressing the influence of children on leisure-related purchase decisions and behaviour is reviewed, together with an examination of research pertaining to the demand for zoos. The presence of children is found to have a notable influence on the demand for this recreational experience. Family life stage is a significant determinant of attraction choice and thus visiting status. Furthermore, the zoo is perceived as a place to take children, a factor that both encourages and deters zoo visiting. It seems the presence of children in a visiting group has a positive influence on the decision to visit a recreational setting when the setting is perceived to be child/family orientated. The implications of these findings are explored, with emphasis placed on the management challenges facing zoos as a result of demographic change and the expanding, traditionally latent visiting, seniors market.
In light of the increasingly competitive day visit market and concern about the keeping of wild animals in captivity for human amusement, traditional UK zoos must balance carefully the demands of the paying visitor with those of maintaining credibility as conservation and education-oriented organisations. Utilising the model of the product life cycle this paper analyses the current position of UK zoos in the visitor attraction market. Issues surrounding their future success are explored and, following a national survey of visitors (n = 241) and latent visitors (n = 304), the core strengths and weaknesses of their unique offering are examined. Views on zoos offer hope. Visitor numbers are likely to be steady, but at a lower level, and while some zoos may falter, there is scope for success and continued existence.
From the Publisher:Using SPSS for Windows: Analyzing and Understanding Data offers both the beginning and advanced student and researcher a complete introduction to SPSS. In two parts, coverage proceeds from an introduction to how to use the program to advanced information on the specific SPSS techniques that are available. Special features of the book include a Student Disk including all the files students will need to work through the various lessons and topics, high level of readability and a class tested text, examples using screen shots and step-by-step procedures for successful completion of data analysis, tips which help the user in both learning SPSS and making it even easier to use, sidebars featuring material that is particularly interesting and important to understanding the analytical technique under discussion, and guidance in the selection and application of statistical techniques and interpretation, and the writing of results sections.
Four hundred and twenty-two adults completed a postal questionnaire in which they provided information regarding pet ownership and their attitudes toward 13 issues involving the use of animals. Over 63% of the sample owned a household pet, with the dog being the most common. Household pets were more commonly owned by respondents who were married, younger than 65 years of age, living in detached houses, or with a child/children present in the home. Most concern was expressed toward those types of animal uses which lead to death or injury, especially dog fighting. Females expressed more disagreement than males with most of the uses o f animals examined. Dog owners expressed more approval offox-hunting and hare-coursing than non-dog owners, and horse owners expressed more approval offox-hunting than non-horse owners. This study reveals that some of the ways in which people use animals are considered more acceptable than others, and suggests that it is incorrect to group different kinds of animal use into one broad category. The authors argue that future years may see a shift in the way society uses animals, from manipulation toward care for their well-being.
There is considerable debate about the ethics of captive wildlife-based setting such as zoos and aquaria, and there is concern about the negative impacts wildlife watchers can have on animals in both captive and noncaptive settings. An important claim made by both captive wildlife-based tourist attractions and those who support wildlife viewing in noncaptive settings is that these wildlife experiences provide opportunities to encourage visitors to develop greater wildlife conservation awareness. This claim is, however, largely untested in any setting and there has been very little research comparing visitors and their experiences across different types of wildlife-based tourism. This study compared wildlife-based tourism attractions in three different groups—captive, controlled, and noncaptive—in terms of visitor profiles, encounters with wildlife, images of wildlife, and learning about the wildlife. The results indicated significant and substantial differences between the three types of setting on many of the variables analyzed. Overall the results provide little support for the claims that any wildlife-based tourism experiences enhance wildlife conservation awareness.
Zoos are important urban-based visitor attractions. It is generally accepted that they have multiple roles: entertainment, education, scientific research, and species preservation. However, it has been argued that these roles are not compatible. The establishment of other forms of animal attractions and the emergence of many other attractions for day visitors in urban areas has meant that the role of traditional zoos in the 21st century is being challenged. This article used survey research at Wellington Zoo in New Zealand to explore visitor demographics and their understanding of the zoo's roles. Ninety percent of visitors were from New Zealand. The percentage nonlocal domestic visitors had increased compared to previous zoo surveys, suggesting a growing importance of tourist visits. Visitors perceived that education was the single most important role of the zoo, but recreation was also viewed as a major role. A majority of visitors indicated that the zoo had important roles in the areas of conservation and breeding animals, but a large minority (approximately 35%) was not aware of these roles. Although the zoo's roles of education and entertainment appeared not be in conflict, the lack of awareness by a large minority of the zoo's conservation role has implications for both marketing and management at the zoo, as well as raising wider issues about the future of the traditional zoo.
The world's urban population has few opportunities for contact with real wild nature and little chance to develop a connection with nature in everyday life. To redress this problem in Western culture, major urban zoos are attempting to bridge the deficit in nature experience by constructing more simulated nature experiences as part of the animal viewing opportunity. The tourist value proposition in urban zoos, however, may not be in the simulated experience of artificial nature, but in the very real and authentic encounter with live "wild" animals and the contemplation of how our human society relates to the biological world. This article explores how zoo visitors describe their engagement with wildlife, how zoos provoke consideration of personal ethical relationships to nature, and how zoos connect an urban public to the natural world. This article builds on the biophilia hypothesis by considering the sociological attributes of zoo visiting and how the novel experience of encountering captive wild animals helps to develop environmental awareness. The article explores how a poetry installation at one urban zoo served to evidence this awareness in visitor comments, about conservation, personal connections to nature, and one aspect of the restorative role zoos offer. It is suggested that the uniqueness of live animals in the zoo is a forum for individuals to question the continuity between self and the natural world.
This study develops and tests a model that depicts how cognitive and emotional evaluations relate to customer satisfaction in leisure services. The model is tested within the context of visitors to the Rostock Zoo in Germany. Results of the study show that consumer satisfaction with leisure services is a function of both cognitive and affective evaluations where the affective evaluations dominate. Implications of the results are discussed. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: [email protected]/* */ Website: http://www.HaworthPress.com.
The brief tenure of environmental enrichment has been influenced both directly and indirectly by the field of psychology, from the work of B.F. Skinner to that of Hal Markowitz. Research on enrichment supports the supposition that an enriched environment does indeed contribute to a captive animal’s well-being. Critical elements of effective environmental enrichment are 1) assessing the animal’s natural history, individual history, and exhibit constraints and 2) providing species-appropriate opportunities, i.e., the animal should have some choices within its environment. This paper presents a historic perspective of environmental enrichment, proposes a broader, more holistic approach to the enrichment of animals in captive environments, and describes a framework or process that will ensure a consistent and self-sustaining enrichment program. Zoo Biol 20:211–226, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Dolphins have widespread contemporary appeal and anthropomorphic social representations of dolphins have fuelled a growing desire in tourist populations to seek interaction with them. This paper is concerned with the staged performance of swim-with-dolphin interaction programmes in aquaria. Qualitative interviews with tourists who have swum with captive dolphins identified their immediate recollections and stressed the grace, size and power of dolphins, but also a belief that the experience was too staged, too short and too expensive. Post-purchase dissonance focused on concerns with the size of enclosures and about captivity, too many tricks, limited interpretation and unfulfilled expectations of a quality interaction. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Recently, researchers have suggested an approach to tourism destination competitiveness that goes beyond conventional destination attributes to include, in addition, generic business factors of competitiveness. Despite its apparent promise, there appears to have been little applied research building on this combined approach. This paper is designed to address this gap. Factors pertaining to the competitiveness of both the destination's attractions and its tourism industry were used to construct an instrument that was used to survey tourism practitioners in Hong Kong. Respondents were asked to rate the factors for both importance and relative competitiveness, in a method consistent with importance performance analysis (IPA). The results were analysed and discussed by reference to the IPA Grid. The paper concludes that the study has developed a promising research methodology that offers a quantitative, theoretically informed empirical analysis that will be able to provide a basis for managerial and policy decisions in the tourism industry.
Despite their popularity and place in our recreational history, in recent years zoos have undergone considerable change in both their structure and function. While remaining attractive places of entertainment, zoos today also emphasize their contribution to wildlife conservation. This article reviews the role of zoos in wildlife conservation and discusses the effectiveness of their present policies and actions. It is apparent that the major contribution comes through their ex situ actions, including education programs, and captive breeding and management of wildlife. However, recently, zoos have also become more involved with in situ conservation, predominantly through recovery programs for endangered species in cooperation with government authorities and local communities. However, such activities are expensive, and a major obstacle for zoos has always been to strike a balance between commercial success and professional conservation credibility. The opportunities for zoos lie in transforming themselves from traditional animal displays to interactive, entertaining conservation centres that bridge the gap between their captive collections and free-range wildlife.
This paper reviews and evaluates zoo tourism worldwide, including the scope of the industry, its key issues and its impacts on wildlife, host communities and economies, and provides guidelines for its further development and sustainability. It is a paper that has been widely used by the zoo industry particularly as a basis for evaluating its scope, impact and development. Tribe, A. was the sole author.
Zoos and animal rights
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Ethical considerations in zoo and aquarium research
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The value of animals in vacation preferences of college students
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