Restricted activities and animal welfare

DRAFT — to be confirmed by the business. Not in force. Written by the engineering team from the published practice of the large experience marketplaces and the travel industry's animal-welfare guidance, to describe how the platform will actually treat listings.

Version: 2026-10-02

This policy is part of the Terms of Service for everyone who sells on Jet.Guide. It says which activities may not be sold here at all, which may be sold only under conditions, and what we do when a listing breaks it. It applies in every country where Jet.Guide operates. Where local law is stricter, local law applies as well.

1. Why we have this policy

Travellers trust that what they book here is legal, safe and decent. Some activities harm animals or people even where they are legal, and travellers increasingly avoid them. The major experience marketplaces and travel associations have stopped selling many of the activities listed below; we follow the same line from the start instead of removing listings later.

2. What this policy covers

Every listing, option, extra, package and pass, and everything said about them: title, photos, description, itinerary and messages to travellers. A listing breaks this policy if it sells, includes or promotes a prohibited activity, even as a stop on a longer tour or an optional extra.

3. Animals: not allowed

We do not sell experiences in which wild animals are kept or used for entertainment, or are handled by visitors. In particular:

1. Riding, bathing or close contact with elephants, and any "elephant experience" where visitors

touch, feed or wash them.

1. Captive whales and dolphins (cetaceans): shows and performances, swimming with them, feeding

or touching them, and tickets to venues that keep them for display ("dolphinariums"). Watching wild whales and dolphins at sea is allowed under §4.

1. Holding, petting, walking with or taking photos with captive wild animals: for example big

cats and their cubs, primates, bears, sloths, birds of prey, reptiles and marine animals.

1. Animal performances: circuses with wild animals, dancing bears, monkey shows, snake charming,

crocodile wrestling, and any show where animals perform tricks.

1. Animal fighting and baiting, including bullfighting, bull-running and other events where

animals are hurt, and cock, dog or other animal fights.

1. Hunting and trophy hunting of any kind, including "canned" hunts in enclosures, and fishing for

protected species.

1. Wildlife products and their production: venues that farm or cage wild animals to produce a

product (for example civet coffee or bear bile), and selling souvenirs made from protected wildlife.

1. Feeding or luring wild animals to bring them close for visitors, including chumming for sharks

or feeding wild dolphins, unless a public authority runs or licenses it for conservation.

1. Any activity that uses sedated, chained, mutilated or visibly injured, sick or exhausted

animals, or animals taken from the wild for the purpose.

4. Animals: allowed only under conditions

These may be sold if the operator meets every condition. We may ask for evidence before a listing goes live, and at any time after.

• Working domestic animals: horse, pony, donkey and camel rides, carriage rides, sled dogs.

Animals of suitable age, size and health for the load (a published weight limit for riders); a working day with rest, shade and water, and no work in extreme heat; regular veterinary care and hoof or paw care; no visibly lame, thin or injured animals; tack that fits; and a qualified person in charge. Riding lessons and treks run by an equestrian centre are allowed on the same terms.

• Watching wild animals in nature: dolphin and whale watching, birdwatching, safaris. The

operator follows the national or regional code of conduct for the species (in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the ACCOBAMS guidelines for cetaceans): keeping the minimum distance, no chasing, cutting off, encircling, feeding or touching, limited time with each group, and no swimming with wild dolphins unless the authority allows it. A listing must not promise a sighting it cannot guarantee.

• Zoos and aquariums. Only those holding the licence the law requires (in the EU, under the Zoos

Directive 1999/22/EC), and preferably accredited by a recognised association (EAZA, WAZA or a national equivalent). Tickets for general admission are allowed; the prohibited activities of §3 inside them (shows with cetaceans, handling wild animals, photos with them) are not, even as an add-on. Keeper-supervised contact with domestic or farm animals and supervised "touch pools" are allowed.

• Sanctuaries and rescue centres. Allowed if they do not breed (except as part of a recognised

conservation programme), buy or sell animals, and do not offer riding, handling or photos with wild animals. "Sanctuary" in a title must be true.

• Fishing trips. With every licence the waters require, within catch limits and seasons, and

with protected species released.

• Farm visits, falconry displays and sheepdog demonstrations where animals do what they would

do in their normal work, without tricks, and with the welfare conditions above.

5. Other restricted activities

Not allowed on Jet.Guide:

• Visits to orphanages, children's homes, schools in session or care homes as a tourist activity

("orphanage tourism"), and tours that treat people or communities as a spectacle without their informed consent and a fair share of the income.

• Illegal activities, or activities that break the law of the place where they happen: unlicensed

transport, entry to closed or protected sites without a permit, removing protected plants, fossils or archaeological finds, driving in protected areas off permitted tracks.

• Drugs (including cannabis where it is illegal), sexual services, and gambling sold as an

experience.

• Firearms, except at a licensed shooting range that the law allows visitors to use, with the

range's own safety rules, age limits and supervision. No shooting at live animals.

• Anything that endangers travellers or others beyond the inherent risk of the activity as

described.

Allowed only with the right licences, insurance and safety measures (we may ask for them): diving, jet skis, parasailing, paragliding, skydiving, bungee jumping, quad bikes and buggies, climbing, canyoning, rafting and other adventure activities. The listing states the minimum age, weight or health limits, what training and equipment are provided, and who is in charge.

6. Licences and permits

The operator is responsible for holding every licence, registration, permit and insurance that the activity requires where it takes place: as a tour operator or travel agent, for guides, for vessels and skippers, for transport, for food and drink, for animals. A listing whose required licence is missing, expired or cannot be verified may be refused or taken off sale until it is in order. The licences we check per country are explained in the supplier help centre.

7. Safety

A listing tells travellers what they need to know to take part safely: physical requirements, age and health limits, what to wear and bring, and what happens in bad weather. The operator gives a safety briefing where the activity needs one and stops the activity when conditions are unsafe.

8. How we apply this policy

• When you join. Every operator accepts this policy when they register as a supplier, and again

when we change it in a way that matters.

• Before a listing goes live. Listings that mention animals or a restricted activity are flagged

automatically from their text. A flag is not a decision: a person at Jet.Guide reviews the listing against this policy before it is first published, whatever the operator's status. We may ask for photos, licences, a veterinary or welfare statement, or a visit.

• After it goes live. Anyone can report a listing under "Animal welfare or a restricted activity".

A person reviews every report.

• Decisions. We may ask for changes, refuse a listing, take it off sale, or suspend an operator

that breaks this policy seriously or repeatedly. Bookings already made are honoured or refunded in full; travellers never lose money because of a decision under this policy.

• Reasons and appeals. Every decision comes with a statement of reasons, naming the section of

this policy it rests on (Art. 17 of the Digital Services Act and Art. 4 of the Platform-to-Business Regulation). The operator can contest it free of charge within six months; a different person reviews the complaint.

• No automatic decisions. The text check only decides which listings a person looks at first.

9. Changes

We review this policy at least once a year and when the law or accepted practice changes. A change that restricts what operators may sell is announced at least 15 days before it applies (30 days if it requires an operator to change how they run an activity), except where the law or an urgent risk to animals or people requires faster action.

Sources we follow

• The published animal-welfare policies of the large experience marketplaces (Tripadvisor and Viator,

GetYourGuide, Expedia Group, Booking.com) and the World Animal Protection "Wildlife-friendly" and dolphin-friendly travel pledges, which the large platforms signed.

• ABTA, Global Welfare Guidance for Animals in Tourism, which classes practices as unacceptable,

discouraged or acceptable with minimum requirements.

• The ACCOBAMS guidelines for commercial cetacean watching (Black Sea, Mediterranean and contiguous

Atlantic area).

• Council Directive 1999/22/EC on the keeping of wild animals in zoos, and national law on animal

protection where an activity takes place.

The business to confirm the position on captive cetaceans (§3 item 2) before any such listing is sold.