| Summary: | Tourism is one of the social practices in which human-animal encounters are direct and conscious. Animals not only play a key role in the creation of tourism and leisure experiences, but they have even become icons and symbols of destinations around the world. Hence, the theoretical problematization of human-animal relationships is clearly reflected in the tourism context, where animals are turned into resources controlled by tourism organizations to serve organizational goals. It is not surprising that concern for the rights and welfare of animals used in tourism has been growing among tourism scholars and the public in general. This literature review contributes to a better understanding of human-animal encounters in tourism by examining the focus of this discussion within the scope of tourism studies. Results indicate that human-animal encounters in tourism have largely been approached from ethical, consumer and management perspectives. In doing so, most attention has been on evaluating the role of animals in the production of different tourism experiences, as well as their rights and welfare in relation to the work they perform. Relatively few studies have examined the position, meaning and active agency of animals as a part of human-animal tourism encounters.
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