Decision Power in High-End Tourism: The Role of Travel Agents in Wildlife Conservation

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine how conservation projects influence travel agents involved in high-end conservation tourism. The conservation of many threatened species in developing nations depends on private initiatives funded by high-end tourism, in addition to public protected areas. Private conservation initiatives depend on a regular supply of tourists, sent by specialised travel agents. Understanding the decision-making process of these travel agents is therefore important, and the factors considered by agents to make their decisions have critical implications for conservation. The longest established and largest scale conservation tourism enterprises operate in sub-Saharan Africa. To attract tourists, conservation tourism operators rely heavily on flagship species such as the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo), and particularly on the three charismatic African big cats, lion, leopard and cheetah. Big cats have a high economic value for the wildlife tourism industry, and marketing by conservation tourism operators, both to travel agents and to potential clients, focuses heavily on these species. A number of conservation tourism operators also run specific conservation programs for big cats and promote these programs in their marketing materials.