Page 49 - WTM Industry Report
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World Travel Market 2017 Industry Report
Animal Attractions
Eight out of 10 British holidaymakers are not interested in visiting attractions that have performing animals or offer activities
with animals outside their natural habitat.
In response to the question: “When you are on holiday, do you like to visit attractions with performing animals (ie killer whale shows) or those
which offer activities with animals (ie elephant rides)?”, 79% replied no, compared to 19% who said yes, the WTM London 2017 Industry Report reveals.
The strength of the response demonstrates the extent of the growing public backlash against attractions using performing animals.
One of the key turning points was
the airing in 2013 of the Black sh documentary, which was highly critical of SeaWorld’s treatment of killer whales in captivity. After the
lm was aired, attendance gures at SeaWorld Orlando began to drop and the park is now 25th on the global theme park attendance list, down from 12th in 2009, according to gures published by Orlando Weekly.
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