TripAdvisor Announces They Will Stop Selling Tickets And Packages To SeaWorld And Other Similar Companies
TripAdvisor announced that they will stop selling tickets and holiday packages to SeaWorld and other similar companies that failed to meet their animal welfare standards.
Viator, the sister company of TripAdvisor, will also stop selling the packages.
James Klay, the director of corporate communications of TripAdvisor, said if companies want to have a relationship with them, they will have to meet their animal welfare standards.
In the statement, Klay said, “An attraction would have to have made a public commitment either to cease all breeding and importation of cetaceans for display with immediate effect or to develop alternative models, such as seaside-sanctuary environments, for the population of captive cetaceans already in their care.”
The company said any coastal sanctuary that houses animals should be taken cared of properly and would have adhered to a strict no-breeding policy.
They said animals should not be trained to perform for shows and should not be allowed to interact with guests.
Dermot Halpin, the president of rentals and experiences of the company, said, “We believe the current generation of whales and dolphins in captivity should be the last. Seaside sanctuaries have enormous potential but they need more backing from the tourism industry.”
He continued, “As long as facilities with captive whales and dolphins continue to profit from keeping these animals in smaller, cheaper and less-natural living environments, then they don’t have enough incentive to adopt serious change.”
The Dolphin Project, an animal welfare group that is based in Orlando, thanked TripAdvisor for their bold move.
In an Instagram post that the Dolphin Project made, they thanked and said, “Thank you @TripAdvisor and @Viatortravel for taking a step in the right direction!
TripAdvisor just announced in a press statement that “Any commercial facility that either breeds or imports cetaceans for public display will be banned from sale on TripAdvisor and Viator.”
The spokesperson added, “Thank you to all of you who spoke out to these companies and asked them to stop promoting captive facilities. Let’s continue to urge more travel companies to follow suit- tap the link in our bio for a guide to do so!”
Dr. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute, said, “TripAdvisor is on the right side of history. Whales and dolphins cannot thrive in captivity and enlightened tourists no longer tolerate exploiting these intelligent and socially complex marine predators for human entertainment.”
TripAdvisor said SeaWorld committed to not breeding orcas, but did not make the same commitment for other cetaceans that are under their care.
SeaWorld said they were disappointed by the decision of the company.