Travel writers and bloggers are refusing to attend a North American trade convention because it is offering swimming with dolphins as an activity.
TBEX North America is being held in Cancun, Mexico, from September 11-14.
TBEX describes itself as "the world’s largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, new media content creators, and social media savvy travel industry professionals", but members have taken to the TBEX website, and their own blogs, to complain about planned activities at the convention that they say are not ethical.
As part of the conference’s media activity program, TBEX is offering the chance to take part in activities involving swimming with, training or being pulled by dolphins.
Michael Huxley, blogger at Bemused Backpacker.com, said: "As professional travel writers, we have a responsibility to hold ourselves and our profession up to a higher standard when it comes to wildlife tourism by not supporting any activity, excursion or organisation that exploits or harms animals for tourist pleasure."
Philip Mansbridge, CEO of Care for the Wild International, said: "By tacitly supporting tour operators that engage in wildlife exploitation and abuse TBEX no longer represents me as a travel writer, a travel blogger or even as an independent traveller and backpacker.
"It’s perhaps a positive sign that this discussion is even taking place – not many years ago people would not have thought twice about going on one of these activities.
"But now, many are more aware that holding intelligent, social animals like dolphins captive is inherently cruel."
In response, TBEX said: "We are not trying to defend these programs or promote them. We included them because local businesses offered them. We think our audience is/should be sophisticated enough to make the decision of taking one of these tours and then writing objectively about their experience for themselves."
