British Tour Operators continue to promote Dolphinella

In response to our campaign many tour operators including Kuoni Ltd., Lastminute.com and Libra Holidays no longer offer Dolphinella as an excursion. Thomas Cook also took the decision to cease promoting and selling excursions to Dolphinella, (however this company continue to promote other dolphin and whale facilties worldwide.)

TUI/Thomson and MyTravel amongst others routinely sold excursions to the facility despite the many problems highlighted by the charitys' report. In fact, during the time that Thomson (TUI-UK) were partners in the Year of the Dolphin initiative the company continued to promote, and profit from, swim-with dolphin excursions including Dolphinella. In our view this is a classic example of companies trying to greenwash their image - having the support of conservation groups, whilst at the same time profiting from captive dolphin facilities.

When the Marine Connection met with the UK Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) to discuss their members' inaction, we were were told that the FTO do not exist to "police" their members, rather they are there to facilitate and co-ordinate with and between their members and "ensure the long-term success of air-inclusive holidays". We were told that the FTO had sent in their own expert to investigate and report on our findings, most of which they agreed required urgent action. In light of this information, shade was put over a portion of the dolphins' pool to protect them from direct sunlight, however their expert did not agree with our findings that one of the animals appears to be stressed or ill. We have since been advised by the FTO their expert has advised that: "In my view, Thomson and other FTO members can be reasonably comfortable in selling this product to their clients"

The FTO invited the Marine Connection to act as advisors, helping them to formulate guidelines for the welfare of dolphins in captivity. However we declined this offer as, in our opinion, dolphins, whales and other marine mammals do not belong in captivity at all, and whilst we are of course concerned with the conditions the animals in Dolphinella and other captive facilities housing cetaceans, we refuse to be party to advising on how "best" to keep them in a captive environment. To agree to this would, in the charity's opinion, be letting down the animals because the Marine Connection was founded to protect and act as a voice for all dolphins and whales.

The FTO and its' members say they are quite simply supplying a demand, giving their customers what they want, however it appeared obvious by their expert's comments that dolphins and other marine mammals are simply a commodity - part of a "product" to be profited from.

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