A household travel brand with a fun family image is continuing to profit from cruelty. Selling no less than 37 venues, profiting from 580 cetaceans (dolphins, orcas and belugas). TUI Group risk falling behind and out of favour with travel agencies and brands.
Written by Rebecca Woolford
Our community of purpose-led travel professionals and businesses continue to ‘call on’ TUI group to join those who are already taking action to end dolphin and whale exploitation. EasyJet announced their ban on profiting from marine parks last year and Jet2holidays followed suit shortly after this travel event.
Across some of the UK’s largest home working agencies including Designer Travel, Travel Counsellors, Not Just Travel, Hays Travel, Perfect Getaways, The Holiday Franchise Company and many other impact-led travel brands have come together here with a clear CALL TO ACTION for Tui Group.
Wild dolphins vs. captive.
Change is Coming…
“Over 500 travel agencies have already signed the open letter to TUI asking them to stop profiting from captive dolphin entertainment. TUI Group are falling behind and out of favour in the travel market.”
Katheryn Wise, World Animal Protection
A New Report: What TUI Group Isn’t Telling You
Click here to uncover the latest insights in this recently published report.
🐬 TUI’s Involvement in Captive Dolphin Entertainment
- Discover Tui’s Extensive Offering: Selling over 400 experiences at venues that exploit dolphins and other cetaceans for entertainment.
- Commercial Breeding: Despite claiming to oppose the commercial breeding of cetaceans, TUI continues to sell tickets to venues that breed.
🌍 Industry Trends and Public Opinion
- Get Clued Up On The Global Shift Already Happening: Countries like Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, and Croatia have banned the practice.
- Customer Attitudes Revealed: Discover why brands like TUI face a real risk of losing business for the sake of short-term profits.
5 Common Justifications For Marine Parks and How To Best Navigate Customer Conversations
“The UK doesn’t have these wildlife prisons any more, not because there was a legal ban but because the country made it so difficult for the venues to comply with welfare standards that it became impossible. Why is it not ‘ok’ in the UK but when we travel abroad to Spain it’s seen as ‘acceptable’?
Over the years I’ve come to realise that most travel agents are still lacking the confidence to say no to clients who request a dolphin swimming experience, explain the reasons and most importantly provide a much better alternative. With knowledge and the right support this can be turned around. I’ve worked with many travel agents who now feel empowered and much happier in their role and business because they’ve been able to better align their businesses with their own values and ethics. They are building more trust and loyalty with their clients too.”
Rebecca Woolford, Host of The Tourism RESET podcast
5 Need To Knows Every Travel Professional Needs To Know About Marine Parks
1) TUI Group makes most of its profits by selling tickets to dolphin entertainment venues, which imprison 580 cetaceans (dolphins, orcas and belugas). Despite over 120,000 signatures calling for change, 500+ travel agent signatures, and TUI staff publicly expressing their embarrassment over the company’s stance, TUI continues to ignore both the travel industry’s concerns and the daily suffering of the wildlife.
2) The world has long been moving away from keeping intelligent, sensitive cetaceans in captivity. Countries like Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, and Croatia have already banned the practice, while others such as Brazil, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, and Norway have set strict standards that make it nearly impossible. In fact, the last dolphinarium in the U.K. closed over 30 years ago.
3) Most visitors are unaware that their money is supporting animal cruelty. Tourists visiting marine parks like SeaWorld, Miami Seaquarium, and Loro Parque are often part of packaged holiday deals. Major companies like British Airways Holidays, Virgin Holidays, Tripadvisor, Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com have all severed ties with marine parks. Some of the most vocal critics are former dolphin trainers.
4) Spain is home to Europe’s largest dolphin prison. Many parks there still allow visitors to swim with the dolphins and put on entertainment shows where these animals are forced to perform circus-like tricks. Loro Parque, for instance, holds 8 dolphins and 4 orcas in a concrete chlorine tank smaller than their car park. They disguise this as conservation, presenting the performing dolphins as ambassadors for their wild counterparts, even though they’ve completely lost their connection to the ocean.
5) Several large cruise lines actively support the exploitative dolphin industry. Princess Cruises, for example, profits from their swim-with-dolphins programs, which subject these intelligent animals to immense stress, forcing them to interact with over 50 tourists a day.
Join 500+ travel professionals who are calling on TUI group to take action here. Discover the latest report TUI Group don’t want you to see here. If you’ve already signed the letter to TUI, great! Don’t stop there, why not share it with your network? Together we can bring about change faster.
If you’d like to discover the below masterclass for your business or team book in a time with me here.
