Peter Fankhauser announced Cook would no longer sell any animal attractions that keep orcas in captivity in a blog post on Sunday.
In the post, Fankhauser acknowledged changing public attitudes towards animal welfare, noting 90% of Cook customers are concerned about the issue.
Besides SeaWorld, the move will see Cook stop selling tickets to Loro Parque in Tenerife, which also houses captive orcas.
Asked by TTG about the move during a Q3 trading update call, Fankhauser revealed: “We are phasing out all the attractions with captive orcas.
“From next summer we are not selling it any more and we are replacing these animal attractions with other more natural animal attractions where animals can be seen in sanctuaries.”
He added: “I had a lot of positive reaction in my mailbox from many customers praising the decision.
“The decision was really made from customer research in Scandinavia, Germany and the UK.
“We didn’t take the decision lightly and came to the decision that we really want to lead in the market in animal welfare.”
