This comment, by Jacques, was posted on our story Agents at the forefront of ethical animal experiences.
Thank you for sharing the article. I appreciate the broader intention behind promoting ethical wildlife tourism and the importance of responsible messaging across the industry. However, I do feel the perspective places a disproportionate level of responsibility on travel agents without fully recognising the realities of how the industry operates.
From a practical standpoint, travel agents are rarely the originators of marketing content. The majority of packages, imagery, and experience descriptions are provided directly by tour operators, lodges, and DMCs. As agents, we rely heavily on this supplier content when presenting options to clients. Therefore, if there are concerns around messaging, imagery, or positioning of wildlife experiences, this needs to be addressed collectively across the entire supply chain, not attributed primarily to agents.
In many cases, agents are curators rather than creators. We package and present what is made available to us, often within tight timeframes and based on pre-structured products. Holding agents solely accountable for "promoting unrealistic expectations" overlooks the role that suppliers themselves play in shaping those expectations from the outset.
On the point of training, I do agree that ongoing education is valuable and necessary. However, there is a significant challenge, particularly within the South African context. Many wildlife lodges and experiences are financially inaccessible to local travel agents, which limits opportunities for first-hand experience. Without being able to visit and truly understand these properties, it becomes far more difficult to sell them with depth, authenticity, and confidence.
This also extends to the domestic market. The reality is that many South African clients find these experiences unaffordable, which means agents have limited exposure both personally and through regular sales. As a result, the opportunity to build expertise through repetition and lived experience is restricted.
If the industry is serious about improving the quality of sales and promoting ethical wildlife tourism, there needs to be greater collaboration. This could include more accessible educational platforms, agent rates, hosted site inspections, and transparent, responsible marketing from suppliers themselves.
Ultimately, travel agents do play an important role in guiding client expectations, but we are one part of a much larger ecosystem. A more balanced approach, where responsibility is shared across agents, operators, and suppliers, would be far more effective in driving meaningful and sustainable change.
