PETA Travel Awards 2019

With the busy holiday travel season on the way, PETA has launched the first-ever PETA Travel Awards – a celebration of the travel providers, hotels, attractions, and other industry leaders that are meeting the skyrocketing demand for vegan and animal-friendly travel.

These winners prove that the future of tourism is packed with animal-friendly options – and free of exploitative exhibits:

  • Best In-Flight
    Meal

    Ryanair Vegan Lasagne

    Next time you’re on a Ryanair flight, why not enjoy a deluxe Italian meal that’s completely plant-based? The airline’s best-selling vegan lasagne is packed with veggies and topped with dairy-free cheese, making for a delicious on-board treat.

  • Best Train Line for Vegan Food

    Virgin Trains

    Virgin Trains is truly first class when it comes to vegan food: from ensuring that a plant-based option is consistently available to clearly labelling its vegan items, which include breakfast pots, wraps, and vegan chilli, the train operator is truly committed to promoting animal-free cuisine on board.

  • Best Cruise for Vegan Food

    Vegan Travel

    This luxury cruise company offers completely vegan-friendly experiences. Visit beautiful destinations such as Norway, Croatia, and the Galápagos Islands while enjoying plant-based fine dining, an array of sporting activities, and a pampering spa.

  • Best Hotel Chain for Vegan Food

    Malmaison

    Offering a large selection of refined dishes from starter to dessert, Malmaison is a destination for those who wish to indulge in delicious vegan food. Some locations also offer a vegan afternoon tea – please check when booking.

  • Best Luxury
    Hotel

    Saorsa 1875

    Located in the heart of Scotland, Saorsa 1875 is a 100% vegan luxury hotel – from the food served to the down- and wool-free bedding and furnishings, the cruelty-free toiletries, and the dog-friendly policy. Enjoying a truly lavish hotel experience without harming animals has never been easier.

  • Best Travel
    Company

    Responsible Travel

    Responsible Travel is leading the way in conscious globetrotting: the tour operator refuses to promote zoos and marine parks and actively discourages travellers from attending bullfights or taking elephant rides.

  • Progress for Animals

    British Airways Holidays

    British Airways Holidays took a stand for animals this year by refusing to promote any attraction that holds wild animals captive and by also discouraging its partners from doing so. This is great progress for animals like dolphins held in marine parks, who belong in their natural habitat, not concrete tanks.

  • Advancement of the Year

    Booking.com

    Booking.com published a comprehensive new animal welfare policy after hearing from PETA US. The travel company won’t contract, offer, or promote wild-animal shows, animal fights or races, elephant rides, aquaria, attractions that offer direct contact with wild animals of certain species, or many other harmful activities.

  • Best Travel Experience

    Eurostar

    In addition to providing great on-board vegan options at Café Métropole, in Business Premier, and in Standard Premier, Eurostar is offering a unique experience for its youngest passengers. Eurostar Odyssey is a virtual reality adventure in which children can immerse themselves in a magical underwater world as the train whizzes through the Channel Tunnel, and this thrilling voyage involves none of the cruelty of an aquarium visit.

  • Best Attraction

    © Neil Langan

    Warner Bros Studio Tour London

    This top attraction’s decision to stop featuring live animals in the Harry Potter studio tour – after a PETA exposé revealed that owls were kept in cramped cages and forced to perform confusing tricks – was pure magic for birds. Now, in another win for animals, the UK’s premium Hogwarts experience now offers delicious food options like vegan fish and chips and burgers.

  • Best Travel App

    HappyCow

    A vegan’s most trusted travel companion, HappyCow is the ultimate go-to when it comes to exploring delicious local plant-based food. The app covers over 180 countries and offers comprehensive listings of vegan-friendly restaurants, supermarkets, and more. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, HappyCow is the resource that you simply can’t travel without.

  • Best Vegan Luggage

    Lefrik Maverick Foldable Trolley

    “PETA-Approved Vegan” company Lefrik produces lightweight, waterproof travel essentials, such as this versatile and stylish foldable trolley made of recycled materials. Tread lightly on the planet and help save animals while on the go with this vegan wheeled backpack.

  • Best Travel Accessory

    Thought Torhild Bamboo Scarf

    This soft and cosy yet light and easy-to-pack-away scarf is perfect for wrapping up in during long train journeys or flights – and even more so when you consider that it was made without harming sheep or goats, who are often hit, kicked, and roughly shorn for their fleece. Here’s proof that you can get that luxury feel without the cruelty of wool and cashmere.

  • Best Amenity Kit

    Aēsop Travel Kits

    Aēsop’s cruelty-free and vegan travel-size beauty kits contain a variety of essential personal-care products, like shampoo, lip moisturiser, hand wash, and toothpaste. The Arrival and Departure kits make the ideal travel companions on any journey.

  • Best Vegan Sunscreen

    Odylique Natural Sun Screen SPF 30

    This travel-size skin-care superhero from vegan and cruelty-free brand Odylique is safe for your skin and the ocean, as it’s free of chemicals that harm coral reefs. Its high SPF will protect you while you’re on the go – and by choosing it, you’re protecting animals from suffering for cosmetics testing.

While these animal-friendly companies are moving with the times, others are falling behind. It’s time TUI catch up and show kindness to animals by severing ties with these marine abusement parks: