Counting the Uncounted

Animals in Tourism

$11 trillion industry. 357 million jobs.
Unknown number of animals affected.

The Problem

Worked example: dining out

How a BOTEC Works

Dining venues
per jurisdiction
×
200
meals / venue / day
×
0.2
animals / meal
×
365
days
Latvia
2,215 venues
32M
animals / year
North Carolina
22,000 venues
321M
animals / year
EU
1.5M venues
22B
animals / year
US
749,000 venues
11B
animals / year
Global
15M venues
219B
animals / year

Just one of 43 categories we will estimate. Sources: venue counts from IBISWorld, Statista, B2BReviews; animals-per-meal range from Faunalytics (0.1) and Veestro (0.3), central estimate 0.2.

Six Animal-Use Categories

🐴

Transport & Labor

Horses, donkeys, camels, elephants

🐋

Wildlife Tourism

Safaris, marine encounters, sanctuaries

🎪

Entertainment & Performance

Shows, circuses, photo ops

🎣

Sporting & Recreation

Fishing, hunting, racing, bullfighting

🍽️

Food Systems

Restaurants, hotels, cruise ships, street food

🦁

Symbolic & Branding

Mascots, cultural rituals, souvenir trade

Methodology

01

BOTECs

Back-of-the-envelope calculations across 43 categories using secondary data

02

Deep Dives

Top categories refined with local expert consultation in North Carolina (US) and Latvia (EU)

03

Validation

Sensitivity analysis, double-counting checks, conservative ranges

04

Extrapolation

Validated pilot estimates scaled to US, EU, and global level

Pilot Sites

🇺🇸

North Carolina, USA

$36.7B tourism revenue (2024)
5th most visited US state

Large domestic market with diverse animal-use categories

🇱🇻

Latvia, EU

$3.2B economic contribution (2023)
EU regulatory context

Smaller international market within EU policy framework

Team

Carol Kline

Professor, Appalachian State University

Founder, Where Animals Matter — nonprofit transforming global tourism for animal welfare.

Artūrs (Art) Kaņepājs

Economist

Applied quantitative research on animal welfare reforms in Europe.