Travel This Week: ASTA Conference Opens at a Beleaguered SeaWorld
Photo Credit: UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones poses with "Sandy," a bottlenose Dolphin, at SeaWorld San Diego August 2, 2017. ASTA's global conference was to host an opening reception at SeaWorld August 27, 2017. SeaWorld San Diego
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Responsible travel brands are taking steps to ban bookings of tourist attractions involving direct human interactions with animals. Given all the SeaWorld controversies that the film "Blackfish" uncovered, coupled with ongoing federal probes, couldn't ASTA have picked an alternative venue for its opening reception?
The American Society of Travel Agents' annual get-together kicks off Sunday night with its opening reception in — of all places — SeaWorld San Diego.
Many travel companies stuck with their SeaWorld partnerships too long when it became clear it had a killer whale problem, which was documented in Blackfish. At the same time that travel agents, who undoubtedly book a lot of SeaWorld tickets for their clients, will be hanging out at the theme park, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are investigation whether SeaWorld officials made misleading statements on or before Augusts 2014 to investors about the impact of Blackfish on the company. As a matter of corporate/trade association responsibility, might not a different venue been a better pick for ASTA?
Meanwhile, there will be plenty of travel agent educational workshops at the ASTA conference, which runs through Tuesday, and updates com
