Tourism, Animals and Utilitarianism

Abstract

Although tourism researchers have recently started to examine moral issues tied to the use of animals in tourism, there is much work that needs to be done. It is particularly important to introduce animal ethics theories into the tourism lexicon because of the vast number of ways the tourism industry uses animals for commercial and personal benefit. Such theories provide a basis from which to examine these uses from different vantage points. This paper employs utilitarian theory, in particular Peter Singer's views, in an attempt to more clearly understand the consequences of our use of animals in tourism. Emphasis is placed on broadly mapping the terrain of utilitarianism, identifying its central properties, examining some of the main criticisms of the theory, and exploring how utilitarian thinking can help in our consideration of the moral acceptability of certain tourism practices, especially zoos.

Conservation education in zoos: A literature review

“…al. 2014;Moss & Esson 2013;Fennell 2012; New signs from the WAZA campaign "Biodiversity is us". Helsinki zoo, April 2016.…”

Ethical Content of Pictures of Animals in Tourism Promotion

“…The benefits for the latter are seen in terms of conservation of the spedes as well as at the individual level, and must be accompanied by a commitment to continual evaluation of possible ways to improve the animals' quality of life (Fennell 2012a(Fennell , 2012c.…”

Livestock Animal Displacement on Rural Tourism Destinations: Placing Livestock's “Pest” Role in the Background

“…Tourism expands the interaction between humans and animals [20]. Literature on animal-tourism relationships and their impact on tourism research provide an epistemological foundation in the following areas: wildlife tourism [37][38][39][40][41]; rural and farm tourism [42]; zoo recreation and leisure [22,[43][44][45][46][47].…”

“…Without the domesticated animals dressing, Heidegger's "poetic dwelling" would not be a romantic notion. Such animals transform the cultural landscape of rural tourism into a living state [17,18] and are part of the tourist attraction [13,[19][20][21]. Additionally, they serve as porters and ways of transportation for tourists; they compete with each other and are considered as competitors in sports for entertainment [22].…”

“…According to the values of utilitarianism [20] and Goffman's dramaturgical theory from a practical perspective [28], the most direct measure is to distant placement for livestock to place the "pest" role in the background. Aiming to seek answers as to how to set up an actor-network for livestock displacement, the present article gathers exploratory research from the perspective of actor-network on the questions as follows: What is the livestock displacement?…”