Animal tourism began in the late 1800s and early 1900s when British geographers set out to explore Africa. The first tourists, wealthy British citizens, wanted to experience the adventure of hunting Africa’s wild animals. Companies started to provide visitors with food, tents, and guns, thus beginning the animal tourism industry. The African roots of animal tourism are shown through the word, safari, which means journey in Swahili.

Wildlife tourism became a common American activity after Theodore Roosevelt was photographed hunting game in Africa in 1909. But by the early 1970s, people began thinking about conservationist tourism. The term ecotourism was then coined and the tourist trend shifted from hunting animals to taking photos of them.

Since then, animal tourism has grown into a billion dollar, international industry, creating complex relationships between country governments, local communities, animal rights activists, and tourists.

Word Count: 140

Sources:

Schaul, J. C. (2014, July 1). Conserving Wildlife Through Responsible  Tourism: An Interview With Dr. Michael Hutchins – National Geographic Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/07/01/conserving-wildlife-through-responsible-tourism.-an-interview-with-dr-michael-hutchins/

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