Beyond the Ivory Ban

The report analyzes the ivory consumption habits of Chinese travelers visiting Cambodia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam following China's 2017 commercial ivory ban. It identifies a typical buyer profile as high-income, university-educated females aged 25-34 who travel frequently. Key findings show that while 70% of travelers perceive buying ivory in these destinations as legal, only 6.8% are estimated to actually purchase ivory products. The report highlights the role of local tour guides and online forums in facilitating purchases and identifies Thailand, Japan, and Hong Kong SAR as destinations with the highest ivory purchase incidence rates.

• The estimated overall incidence rate of travelers buying an ivory product while abroad is 6.8%.
• A typical profile of an ivory buyer is a female aged 25-34 with a university education, a high monthly income of RMB 40,000-60,000, and a habit of traveling outside Mainland China four or more times per year.
• Among the seven target destinations, Thailand had the highest estimated ivory purchase incidence rate at 13.5%, followed by Japan (12.0%) and Hong Kong SAR (11.3%).
• Local tour guides are a primary influence in the path to purchase across multiple destinations, such as in Thailand (71%), Cambodia (67%), and Japan (61%).

APA

Meijer, W., Bergin, D., Wu, D., Cheng, T., & Kritski, E. (2020). Beyond the Ivory Ban. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1103/18kfpv8cip_Traveler_SummaryFactsheetfinal.pdf

Chicago

Meijer, Wander, Daniel Bergin, Derek Wu, Timothy Cheng, and Eugene Kritski. Beyond the Ivory Ban. WWF International, 2020. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1103/18kfpv8cip_Traveler_SummaryFactsheetfinal.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Meijer |first1=Wander |last2=Bergin |first2=Daniel |last3=Wu |first3=Derek |last4=Cheng |first4=Timothy |last5=Kritski |first5=Eugene |title=Beyond the Ivory Ban |publisher=WWF International |date=October 2020 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1103/18kfpv8cip_Traveler_SummaryFactsheetfinal.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{meijer2020beyond, author = {Meijer, Wander and Bergin, Daniel and Wu, Derek and Cheng, Timothy and Kritski, Eugene}, title = {{Beyond the Ivory Ban}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1103/18kfpv8cip_Traveler_SummaryFactsheetfinal.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }