The TBEX travel bloggers’ conference in Cancun is the latest in a string of tourism companies to be put under pressure for their association with dolphin or whale tours

A row has broken out between travel bloggers, wildlife campaigners and the organisers of a major travel media conference over the inclusion of captive dolphin experiences in its exclusive pre-event programme, as pressure mounts on travel brands to take a stand against such attractions.

TBEX 2014, which describes itself as “the world’s largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, and new media content creators” has been criticised for offering attendees the opportunity to sign up to two tours at a dolphinarium in Cancun, where the conference is being held in September.

Travel writer Matthew Kepnes, who runs the successful blog nomadicmatt.com, was among the first to draw attention to the dolphin tours, launching a petition that currently has just under 2,000 signatures. He is now boycotting the conference and encouraging others to do the same.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “There are certain things that are right and wrong and they [the organisers] should be on the side where things are going, which is away from dolphin tours as more countries and tour operators ban the practice.”

The controversy over TBEX, although primarily being discussed by those within the travel industry itself, takes place within the context of growing consumer concern with marine park attractions, specifically those that feature dolphins and whales.

Over the past year, travel companies have found themselves under increasing pressure to dissassociate themselves from such attractions, largely due to the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which investigated the treatment of captive killer whales at SeaWorld. Charities such as Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) have also been actively targeting travel companies and tour operators to take a stand against whale and dolphin captivity.

This week Southwest Airlines ended a 25-year partnership with SeaWorld following a petition signed by 30,000 people to “stop promoting SeaWorld animal cruelty”. In June British Airways was forced to respond to a similar petition, with over 100,000 signatures, although in this case the airline said the issue of animal welfare was a matter for the US authorities.

Earlier this year, Richard Branson announced that Virgin would no longer deal with organisations that continue to take cetaceans (dolphins, whales and porpoises) from the ocean, the first step of an ongoing discussion the company is having on the issue.

Philip Mansbridge, CEO for Care for the Wild International, which also runs the RIGHT-tourism campaign for animal-friendly tourism said: “There’s growing evidence that activities like these are cruel and inflict years of suffering on dolphins and orcas. TBEX say it should be up to the tourist to decide if they want to take part in an activity. There is truth in that. But many people take part in these activities without knowing the truth.”

He adds: “We can’t count the number of people who have come to us and said that they have been somewhere, like a bull fight, or the Tiger Temple in Thailand, and said ‘they wish they’d known’.”

So far, TBEX have refused to bow to pressure from the bloggers, claiming it is a minority of people who have voiced their opposition. They also state that the tours in question were booked up in the first week and they have been asked by others not to cancel them.

“We won’t be bullied into cancelling a tour by a small pressure group,” TBEX co-founder Rick Calvert told The Guardian. “TBEX is not a public event, it’s a business-to-business event for the industry and travel media. We don’t pick the tours, select them or promote them and we’re not saying these tours are good, or these companies are good. We’re saying if you want to go, you can, and report on it, whatever you see.”

However, since the controversy started, TBEX have added new workshops to their programme. “It’s an issue we see people are very passionate about and we are having speakers addressing this issue specifically at TBEX,” said Calvert.