U-Tour Signs the Initiative of Tourism Industry Voluntary Code of Practice to Refuse Illegal Wildlife and Products

On March 23rd, 2021, the World Tourism Alliance(WTA) and China Wildlife Conservation Association(CWCA) jointly published the Initiative of Tourism Industry Voluntary Code of Practice to Refuse Illegal Wildlife and Products(hereinafter referred to as the Voluntary Code).

Release time : 2021-03-26 17:51:37

source : Utour Group

On March 23rd, 2021, the World Tourism Alliance(WTA) and China Wildlife Conservation Association(CWCA) jointly published the Initiative of Tourism Industry Voluntary Code of Practice to Refuse Illegal Wildlife and Products(hereinafter referred to as the Voluntary Code). U-Tour has taken the lead in signing the Voluntary Code as a founding member of WTA.

According to the national requirements, the Voluntary Code is designed to strengthen the self-discipline of the tourism sector, regulate the tourism market and promote sustainable tourism development. All the tourism-related individuals and organizations are encouraged to join the initiative and comply with the code so that the whole tourism sector and society will play a bigger role in protecting wildlife and refusing illegal wildlife and products.

Illegal wildlife trade covers poaching, transshipment, smuggling and illegal sales, and it has attracted great attention of the global community recently. The travelers may, on their journey, somehow become part of the illegal trade, when they have dishes made of killed wildlife or purchase items made of the body parts of wildlife. In recent years, China’s Customs have, in many cases, caught Chinese citizens carrying back home illegal items made of endangered species like ivory. Relevant statistics show that 50% of the current smuggling cases are related to the tourists carrying illegal items. Illegal wildlife trade has not only damaged the image and reputation of tourists and tourism enterprises, but also brought serious legal risks to the tourism industry.

The Vice-President of U-Tour Wang Chunfeng stated that U-Tour is constantly commended for its achievements as a major tourism group around the country and always takes great responsibility as part of society. For many years, U-Tour continuously enhances the training for its tourist leaders and guides. They are required to learn more about law and improve their services, and they must remind tourists of