Thomas Cook is to carry out an independent audit of SeaWorld following its decision to stop promoting the attraction online.
Asked about the situation during a media conference call following its Q1 results, Thomas Cook Group chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: “A year ago we introduced a really robust animal welfare policy, taking the ABTA standard as the benchmark. We started an independent audit process. We did about 50 [audits] and two-thirds came out insufficient and we stopped their sale. SeaWorld is one of the next we are going to make an audit of, independently and if they don’t fulfil the standard of the audit then we’ll stop sale.”
Marine Connection’s Margaux Dodds comments “If this independent audit passes the standards, will Thomas Cook reinstate their online promotion of SeaWorld? If their recent decision is upheld, will their reps continue to promote and sell SeaWorld attraction tickets to customers in holiday resorts?. We await the results of the audit to see what steps the company plans to take next.”
