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Satsa launches online public consultation on animal interaction

24 Apr 2019

The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) has launched online publication consultation workshops, providing the tourism industry with a useful tool by which to evaluate and select animal interaction activities in the tourism space. Ten workshops, held over the past two months, were conducted across the country and all provinces and form part of the public consultation phase of Satsa's Animal Interaction Study.

Image source: Gallo/Getty

"The voice against tourism experiences that include animal interactions has grown louder and louder and this has impacted on how South Africa is being perceived as a tourism destination," says Keira Powers, Chairperson of the Southern African Tourism Services Association (SATSA) Animal Interaction Committee.

"As the leading inbound tourism association, SATSA has been tasked by its members to develop guidelines for animal interactions in tourism. The Animal Interaction research is member mandated, board approved and being run in partnership with South African Tourism," adds Powers

To ensure all stakeholders affected by, or with an interest in, animal interactions within the wider tourism industry are included, and to allow an opportunity for input for those who couldn’t make it to the workshops, SATSA is making the content of the workshop available online.

Satsa’s aim is for a fair and comprehensive process that is cognisant of all the complexities involved in the tourism industry. Although Satsa has taken on this endeavour, it is acting as an impartial arbiter that is seeking an ethics-based solution, by the tourism industry, for the tourism industry.

SATSA encourages all interested parties to watch the following video and to then complete a questionnaire providing feedback and suggestions.

The information acquired from the workshops, along with further research (including analysis of legislation and regulations, consultation with key organisations, market and trends assessments among others) will be used to develop guidelines for animal interactions in tourism. A draft of this will be shared in the future for public comment.