Working in Wildlife Tourism: A handbook for guides, small business, students and NGOs

Working in Wildlife Tourism: A handbook for guides, small business, students and NGOs

Wildlife tourism can be a richly rewarding career, watching the behaviour of fascinating creatures, working in the open air in beautiful places, meeting many lovely and interesting people, all while contributing in some way to conservation and public education. It is also a highly complex field with many challenges. The tour guide or manager may already be familiar with one group of animals such as waterbirds or reptiles but now need to learn about other creatures the group may encounter on tour, and also brush up on skills necessary to impart information in a way that is both accurate and enjoyable for guests. The business owner may already be experienced in running a business or guiding tours but have little knowledge or understanding of wildlife. Alternatively, they may be very knowledgable about the animals but inexperienced in the world of business, including marketing, cash flow forecasts and legal issues. Even when accomplished in such matters, there is always room for improvement, learning more about the behaviour and ecology of the wildlife and the ecosystems they live in, finding innovative ways to both entertain and educate visitors, or planning for tough times such as unanticipated travel restrictions imposed because of epidemics or natural disasters. The author draws on many years of experience, including some steep learning curves of her own as a zoologist starting a family business, Araucaria Ecotours, which she and her family have now run for over 20 years, her research for the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, her role as chair of Wildlife Tourism Australia for over a decade, and her own travels throughout Australia and in all non-polar continents and a few islands, including wilderness areas, wildlife parks, zoos and museums, both as a solo traveller and a participant in guided tours. The book mostly focuses on seeing animals in the wild, excluding hunting and fishing, but is also relevant to well-run captive situations and ecolodges as well as nonprofit natural history organisations. It includes much advice on getting to know the wildlife, not just to name them but to understand their behaviour and ecology, differences between local wildlife and the regions visitors may come from, how to find and watch animals with little or no disturbance, and how to generally avoid any negative impacts on conservation or animal welfare. Suggestions on positive inputs to conservation are also offered. But wildlife tourism involves people as well as the non-human creatures, so issues such as health and safety, keeping tours enjoyable for a variety of tourists, dealing with difficulties, employer-staff relationships and networking with other tour operations are also discussed. Legal and financial issues are also covered, with tips on finding out local requirements. Finally there are suggestions for further learning and innovative thinking, and references to many publication and websites for further information.