Revealed: The Gap Between Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy and Practice

Tripadvisor presents itself as a global leader in ethical tourism, assuring millions of travellers that it is committed to animal welfare. Their official policy makes a clear promise: to not sell tickets to experiences that involve physical contact with captive wild animals or feature animals forced to perform demeaning or unnatural acts. Like other tourism companies, Tripadvisor understands that building their marketing and promotions around evolved, ethical and progressive consumer expectations and choices is good business.

Our investigation into Uluru Camel Tours revealed disturbing evidence of animal mistreatment. What we found directly contradicts Tripadvisor's own animal welfare guidelines—guidelines they claim to enforce rigorously.

Evidence File

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"Demeaning acts are defined as those where an animal may be either drugged or forcibly trained to behave or comply in an unnatural way..."

Despite being contacted in writing on multiple occasions with clear evidence of policy violations, Tripadvisor's response was slow, unprofessional, and ultimately inadequate. After weeks of correspondence, their team failed to take meaningful action or provide a satisfactory explanation for why this venue continues to display a "Meets animal welfare guidelines" badge.

Supporting Evidence

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While Tripadvisor is no longer selling tickets directly to the venue, they continue to promote Uluru Camel Tours with its animal welfare badge intact. Tourists, trusting Tripadvisor's endorsement, are still being directed to this business. The gap between their public policy and their practice of profiting from animal exploitation remains.