Week of Action! Campaign for Thomas Cook to Drop SeaWorld Goes International

The campaign urging Thomas Cook to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld picked up momentum this week with a wave of actions outside the travel provider’s stores and corporate offices across the UK and Germany.

Monday

We kicked off the week with a demonstration outside Thomas Cook’s London headquarters. Activists stood strong in the face of rain and snow, holding banners and calling out for CEO Peter Fankhauser to commit to ending his company’s support of orca abuse by dropping SeaWorld. Two of the company’s middle managers emerged from the office to speak to the activists but failed to offer any meaningful progress towards ending the company’s involvement with SeaWorld, so the protest continued.

Tuesday

Callers flooded Thomas Cook’s phone lines to express their disappointment that the company continues to promote SeaWorld. They reported that customer services staff were more receptive to their message than on previous days of action, suggesting that the company has realised that simply ignoring the issue and slamming the phone down on those with a concern for animals is not the way to go.

http://twitter.com/PETAUK/status/940521827977310208

Wednesday

Activists took to social media to continue applying pressure to Thomas Cook. Although posting had been disabled on the company’s Facebook wall, activists were still able to reply to the company’s own posts to make it clear that they wouldn’t book a holiday with a travel provider that supports orca abuse.

Thursday

The campaign went international as demonstrations took place outside Thomas Cook offices and branches in Germany – the travel provider’s second-biggest market after the UK. E-mails leaked from within the company show that these actions received the support of not only staff members but also business partners.

Friday

Campaigners took the message directly to Thomas Cook’s corporate office in Peterborough to urge staff members to do all they can to ensure that their employer drops SeaWorld. Leaflets were left on hundreds of employees’ cars, and the company desperately tried to retrieve as many as they could. Many staff members and visitors gave the campaign their full support.

Saturday

Local activists demonstrated outside at least 40 Thomas Cook stores across the UK, handing out leaflets and engaging with members of the public. Here are some photos from the day:

@ThomasCookUK continues to sell tickets to SeaWorld despite being aware of their cruel treatment of animals for profit. Today some of us let the people of Kent know all about it & pointed them in the direction of more ethical travel agents! #BoycottSeaWorld @PETAUK @AnimalAid pic.twitter.com/ragGIyQG3H

— Kent Christian Peace Activists (@KCPeaceA) December 16, 2017

PETA activists gathered outside Thomas Cook in Fishergate, Preston, to call on the travel agent to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld in Florida.https://t.co/Gk9hR5dMzH pic.twitter.com/ypHF4XWUfM

— Lancashire Post (@leponline) December 16, 2017

Protesting @ThomasCookUK for their promotion of @SeaWorld holidays #emptythetanks #boycottseaworld #thomascook pic.twitter.com/YodKz4GAEL

— Devon Animal Save (@DevonAnimalSave) December 16, 2017

Thank you to everyone who took part in PETA’s week of action. It’s clear that the pressure is mounting on Thomas Cook, and we’re renewing our call for its CEO to stop hiding away from this issue and to do the right thing by dropping SeaWorld.