Victory! Travel Group Agrees Not to Promote Camel Rides After PETA Outreach

For Immediate Release:
May 25, 2023

Contact:
Brittney Williams 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA, locally based Travel Leaders Group—the largest network of professional travel agents in North America—agreed not to feature imagery promoting exploitative animal rides at the pyramids of Giza on its website. In thanks, PETA is sending the company delicious vegan chocolates.

The move follows a recent video exposé from PETA Asia showing that camels used for rides at the pyramids of Giza and other top Egyptian tourist attractions are beaten bloody, yanked by the nose, forced to walk on their knees, and tied up. Their legs are tied tightly together to prevent the animals from moving or escaping, and some camels are tied to the backs of vehicles and dragged through the dirt. When they become too worn out to be used for rides, they’re sold and slaughtered for meat.

“Travel Leaders Group has recognized that compassionate tourists aren’t interested in supporting the abusive animal-riding industry,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is celebrating Travel Leaders Group for taking a stand for animals and urges other tourism associations to follow its lead.”

Several other tour operators across the U.S. have removed animal rides from their websites. PETA Asia is calling on the governor of Giza to investigate the traders who have been caught abusing camels and on Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to remove animal rides from Giza.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter,  Facebook, or Instagram.