Presenting the donkey at the seaside: a move towards tackling speciesism in the tourism industry

This paper explores the way donkeys are presented in the tourism industry and, thus, introduces the donkey into the tourism research agenda. Donkeys make a global contribution to tourism and, in particular, have a historical connection with seaside destinations. This article draws on a study of donk...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnals of leisure research Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 161 - 178
Main Authors Tully, Paul A. G., Carr, Neil
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 15.03.2022
Subjects
Animals in tourism
human-animal relationships
policy
speciesism
the seaside donkey
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Summary:This paper explores the way donkeys are presented in the tourism industry and, thus, introduces the donkey into the tourism research agenda. Donkeys make a global contribution to tourism and, in particular, have a historical connection with seaside destinations. This article draws on a study of donkeys at the UK seaside in Blackpool. It shows that the donkeys' physical and symbolic presentation is crucial for maintaining tourism traditions. However, the analysis also makes visible the ingrained speciest attitudes of human dominance over animals operating in the tourism industry. The article outlines the need to tackle speciesism in the industry and concludes with key research recommendations for tourism policy advancements.
ISSN:1174-5398
2159-6816
DOI:10.1080/11745398.2020.1737549