The Brooke - Responsible tourism

Who really pays for excess baggage?

Working animals are part of everyday life in popular holiday destinations such as Egypt, Jordan and India, with millions employed in the tourist trade across the world.

Taking a ride in a carriage or on a donkey can be a fun and memorable holiday experience, and make a valuable difference to the local economy.

But overwork and bad practice can lead to animals suffering. Many horses and donkeys spend all day every day carrying heavy loads, as they taxi tourists across tricky terrain at bargain prices, often under the blazing sun, with little shade, water or rest.

Exhausted animals suffer heat stress, injuries, dehydration, beatings and wounds as part of this ‘holiday experience’ with their poor owners working them hard to bring in a daily income.

If an animal is treated well it can work happily, without suffering, while providing valuable income for local people and enjoyment for tourists.

For this reason, the Brooke has launched its Happy Horses Holiday Code, to help caring travellers make responsible choices.

Carriage horse struggling downhill © Martin Usborne

What can I do?

Every person has the power to prevent a working animal from suffering. The Brooke is calling on all tourists to take action against their anguish by simply following the Brooke’s ‘Happy Horse Holiday Code’ (you can download a PDF leaflet of this code in the Downloads section to the left of this page), and pledging your support by signing up to our responsible tourism campaign.

If you want to know more about what is going in the world of animal welfare in tourism have a look at our 'what are the issues' page, and watch our 'responsible tourism' video to see first hand how horses and donkeys are being abused in the tourist trade.