Elephant tourism is a growing attraction in many countries across Asia and Africa and is popular with tourists from many origins. As elephants are no longer used in the logging industry in Asia, elephant tourism has grown rapidly, providing the only viable way that elephants and their owners can generate income. Old logging camps were developed into sanctuaries for some elephants, but many other camps were established as entertainment centers, with various welfare issues resulting for the elephants and their mahouts. The profits from elephant tourism in Asia have encouraged African operators to follow a similar business model.
This book draws attention to the need for a comprehensive and rigorous focus on local solutions to improve the welfare of captive elephants and tourists' experiences of elephant tourism, to the benefit of local communities by:
- Critically reviewing recent research into elephant tourism
- Providing contemporary analytical case studies of elephant tourism policy and practice
- Identifying future research priorities
The Elephant Tourism Business will contribute to a better understanding of how elephant tourism is organized, regulated and promoted, both in tourist origin countries and in elephant areas. It identifies priorities for future research into elephant tourism and provides a unique, authoritative resource for researchers, elephant managers and administrators, and tourism managers in this developing area of international concern. The book will be of interest to academics and practitioners with backgrounds in conservation, environment, tourism and veterinary sciences.
Daugiau informacijos
International academic researchers interested in tourism, conservation, environment and veterinary sciences
| Foreword |
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| Preface |
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xi | |
| Contributors |
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xiii | |
| Elephant Tourism Glossary |
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xxv | |
| An Elephant Portrait Gallery: Photos by contributors |
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xxxi | |
| Introduction to The Elephant Tourism Business |
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1 | (16) |
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Section 1 Personal Experiences of Elephant Tourism |
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17 | (32) |
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1 Managing the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp: Eric Laws Interviews John Roberts |
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19 | (13) |
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2 PATA and Jetwing: John Koldowski Interviews Chi Lo and Senal Siriwardene |
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32 | (6) |
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3 The Elephant in the Room: An Autoethnographic Approach |
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38 | (11) |
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Section 2 Expectations and Experiences of Interactions with Elephants |
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49 | (48) |
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4 Drivers of Elephant Tourism in Thailand |
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51 | (13) |
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5 Visitor Expectations and Behaviours at Elephant Camps |
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64 | (9) |
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6 Alternative Forms of Elephant Tourism |
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73 | (12) |
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7 Elephant Visitor Preferences and Experiences in Sri Lanka |
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85 | (12) |
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Section 3 Ethical and Moral Perspectives |
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97 | (50) |
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8 Moral Tensions for Elephant Visitors |
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99 | (12) |
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9 The Valuation of Ethical Encounters with Elephants |
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111 | (12) |
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10 Community Collaboration, Elephant Conservation and Protection |
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123 | (11) |
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11 Conservation-Based Elephant Tourism: An Importance-Performance Analysis |
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134 | (13) |
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Nilakshi W.K. Galahitiyawe |
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Section 4 Frameworks for Modern Elephant Tourism Management |
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147 | (30) |
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12 The Effectiveness of Elephant Welfare Regulations in India |
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149 | (11) |
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13 Elephant Tourism Conservation and the Need for a New Strategy: Thai Stakeholder Attitudes |
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160 | (10) |
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14 Elephant Tourism, the ABTA Animal Welfare Guidelines |
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170 | (7) |
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Section 5 Elephants and Their Stories |
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177 | (40) |
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15 A Case Study of Elephant Venue Narratives |
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179 | (12) |
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16 The Valuation of Elephant Sightings in Protected Areas |
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191 | (13) |
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17 Social Media: A Proxy Voice for Elephants |
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204 | (13) |
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Section 6 What Next? Proxy Voices for Elephants |
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217 | (52) |
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18 Modernizing Human-Elephant Interactions |
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219 | (13) |
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19 Validating a Captive Elephant Welfare Index |
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232 | (15) |
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20 Promoting Elephant-Friendly Tourism |
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247 | (12) |
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21 The Paradox of Elephant-Friendly Tourism |
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259 | (10) |
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| Postscript: COVID-19 and Elephant Tourism, a Preliminary Analysis |
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269 | (7) |
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Suphapom Rattanaphinanchai |
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| Conclusion |
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276 | (13) |
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| Index |
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289 | |
Eric Laws (Edited By) Eric Laws has an MPhil from the University of Surrey and a PhD from Griffith University. He has retired from full time academic life, and is Visiting Professor at Leshan Normal University, Sichuan, P.R. China. His research interests include tourism service quality, destination management, crisis management and elephant tourism. Eric's publications include nearly 100 journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. The Elephant Tourism Business is Eric's twentieth authored or edited book.
Noel Scott (Edited By) Noel Scott is Adjunct Professor of Tourism Management in the Sustainability Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast. His research interests include the study of wildlife tourism, tourism experiences, destination management and marketing, and stakeholder organization. He has over 300 academic articles published including 16 books. He is on the Editorial Board of 10 journals, a Fellow of the Council of Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Educators, and a member of the International Association of China Tourism Scholars.
Xavier Font (Edited By) Xavier Font is professor of sustainability marketing at the University of Surrey. He researches and develops methods of sustainable tourism production and consumption. He has published widely about sustainable tourism certification, and has consulted on sustainable product development, marketing and communication for UNEP, UNCTAD, UNWTO, IFC, EC, VisitEngland, Fįilte Ireland, WWF and the Travel Foundation amongst others. Since January 2019, he is the new co-editor of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. He has conducted over 130 courses for more than 2500 businesses on how to market and communicate sustainability, see www.travindy.com
John Koldowski (Edited By) John Koldowski As a Professor and Foreign Expert within the School of Tourism at Leshan Normal University (LSNU), John continues in his role as a researcher and educator across a number of research areas, including the responsible and sustainable development of mountain-area tourism, rural tourism development and the development of metrics for the better measurement of the impact of tourism in fragile areas and on the intangible assets of tourism. Prior to joining LSNU, John was with the College of Innovation at Thailand's Thammasat University, and a founding member of the Tourism Action Group (TAG) at the same institution. He was also part of the Secretariat for the PATA Thailand Chapter for a number of years, while living and working in Thailand. Before entering academia, Mr. Koldowski was Deputy CEO of PATA where over a fifteen-year span he came to be regarded as one of the travel and tourism sector's leading analysts. He still maintains his relationship with PATA through his appointment as a special advisor to the CEO.
