Ctrip and Trip.com pledge to combat illegal wildlife trade

Chinese OTA giant Ctrip and its independent brand Trip.com have pledged to fight illegal wildlife trade.

With the UK government’s invitation, the largest online travel agent in Asia (and the second largest in the world) made a pact including its independent OTA brand.

At the Illegal Wildlife Trade London Conference 2018, Ctrip and Trip.com pledged to brandish concerns relating to the illegal wildlife trade. Both brands also spoke at panel discussions, regarding its negative relationship with the tourism industry.

To address problems from both the demand and supply sides, Ctrip and Trip.com made four commitments:

1. Ctrip and Trip.com will use their mobile applications, websites and offline stores to increase public awareness of the illegal wildlife trade issue among its more than 300 million users around the world;
2. Ctrip and Trip.com will fully support the work of the WTTC and the WWF, as agreed at the London conference, and distribute the WTTC Declaration of Illegal Wildlife Trade in China;
3. Ctrip and Trip.com will develop new ecotourism tours and encourage Chinese tourists to engage in ecotourism;
4. In cooperation with environmental organisations, Ctrip and Trip.com will launch a campaign to discourage and dissuade its vendors and clients from products related to the illegal wildlife trade.

Jane Sun, the CEO of the Ctrip Group, signed the WWTC Buenos Aires Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade in April 2018 and assumed her post in the advisory committee alongside WWF, Hyatt and Emirates, among others. The declaration is aimed at encouraging tourism-related organisations to play a key role in the movement.

The Illegal Wildlife Trade London Conference 2018 brings together stakeholders from business, environmental NGOs and academia to discuss solutions.

With a recent resurgence in the illegal wildlife trade, the 2018 Conference aims to restate how determined and confident the national governments are to fight around the world.