BothTui and Virgin have announced that they won’t be following Thomas Cook’s lead in dropping sales of tickets to the SeaWorld theme parks.
Virgin say to stop tickets sales completely wouldn’t address the needs of cetaceans currently in captivity, and would minimise their ability to exert positive influence. Virgin sell tickets/excursions to various facilities with wild-caught dolphins including Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. TUI has said they will continue to audit attractions according to animal-welfare guidelines drawn up by ABTA, which is of course welcomed, however simply not enough.
Both Virgin and TUI profit from facilities which display captive cetaceans. Apart from the Virgin Pledge, there is little evidence of exactly what Virgin is doing to exert a positive influence on the industry so far, and TUI could certainly do more.
