The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) recently launched a BadTripAdvisors.com campaign after TripAdvisor caved to PETA’s travel requests.
The company’s new policy prohibits booking for certain animal attractions, such as elephant rides and swimming with dolphins, and comes after a meeting with PETA, an extremist animal-liberation group that wants to ban zoos, aquariums, cheeseburgers, ice cream, and even pet ownership.
Many animal attractions are rated highly on on the travel site, with travelers reporting the conditions firsthand. In fact, TripAdvisor itself awards a number of venues that have elephants rides or swim-with-dolphins activity a “Certificate of Excellence,” which is awarded to attractions that “consistently earn great reviews from travelers.”
“No company, including Trip Advisor, should take advice from PETA and change its policies to hurt consumers and businesses,” remarked Will Coggin, CCF research director. “Until TripAdvisor cancels its alliance with the pet-killers at PETA, consumers should use other travel websites.”
