Today (Video): PETA Heckles TUI Speaker at ABTA’s Travel Matters Conference
Today (Video): PETA Heckles TUI Speaker at ABTA’s Travel Matters Conference
London – Earlier today, a PETA supporter crashed the annual Travel Matters conference put on by ABTA – formerly known as the Association of British Travel Agents – in Westminster, where they commandeered the stage during TUI’s Head of Public Policy Nathan Stower’s speech and told attendees why TUI must end its support of orca abuse at marine parks. A protestor dressed as a chained orca was outside the venue holding a sign saying, “TUI: Orcas Matter! Drop Marine Parks.”
The action follows the premature death of an orca named Keto – who is featured in the documentary Blackfish – at the Spanish marine abusement park Loro Parque. PETA’s campaign is calling on TUI to sever its ties with all parks that hold orcas and other dolphins captive in the name of entertainment.
Video footage of the disruption is available here, and images are available here.
“Orcas and other dolphins endure a lifetime of suffering and a premature death when confined for entertainment,” says PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner. “It’s time for TUI to recognise that compassion is key to responsible tourism. PETA is calling on the company to take a stand, join the rest of the travel industry, and stop profiting from the exploitation of marine mammals.”
PETA notes that while orcas in nature form complex relationships, work cooperatively to find food and traverse up to 150 miles of the ocean every day, those at marine parks are isolated or housed in incompatible groups in cramped tanks. Held in these concrete prisons for decades and forced to perform tricks for tourists, the majority die far short of their natural life expectancy and display unnatural behaviour linked to psychological suffering.
Most leading travel companies, including rival Jet2holidays, have ended their promotion of dolphin prisons. TUI’s propping up of the notorious SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, and promotion of other marine parks, like Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, is an embarrassment to the entire travel industry. Over 202,000 members of the public have urged TUI to drop marine parks from its itineraries.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]