Travel booking companies

Finding an ethical and sustainable travel company

After months of long nights and cold days, many of us will be dreaming of our next getaway. As well as the usual considerations (beach or city, laid back or adventurous, group or solo), many people are increasingly interested in the sustainability of their holiday choices. 

But with the rise in overtourism and the travel sector’s massive climate impact, how do you plan an ethical break? 

This guide will explore some of the ethical risks and navigate you to the companies that are doing things differently.

Who’s in the guide?

As there are lots of ways to book travel and accommodation these days, this guide covers companies offering very different types of services.

We’ve included tour operators like TUI and Jet2 as well as some smaller companies offering more adventurous options. Hays, Co-op Travel, and Trailfinders are travel agents with physical shops. 

Tech platforms have had a massive impact on how we arrange travel and we’ve included accommodation giants Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia as well as some smaller alternatives.

Sadly, one of our previous Best Buys, Fairbnb, has gone into liquidation. While the website is still operating as a way to find accommodation, you can’t use it to book, so we haven’t included it here.

Independent Hostels and YHA were both Best Buys last time and this time we’ve added reader suggestion Hostelling Scotland.

Self-catering accommodation in the UK became extremely popular in the UK during the pandemic and we’ve included two of the biggest operators, Sykes and Cottages.com as well as the Landmark Trust and National Trust, both of which score well in Which? reader surveys.

What do the different travel companies offer?

This guide includes a range of different travel companies, including travel agents, tour operators and those offering accommodation. 

We list what they offer in the table below, sorted by A to Z of company name.

Is there such a thing as sustainable tourism?

Tourism is a massive source of greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for around 9% of the global total. Compared to other sectors in the economy, tourism is much more carbon intensive, with each dollar earned generating around four times as many emissions as the service sector according to a study published in 2024.

The same study found that, between 2009 and 2019, global emissions from tourism grew at 3.5% a year, more than twice as fast as the rest of the economy. With that level of emissions and that scale of growth, it would be nonsense to describe the global tourism industry as sustainable.

Having said that, there are ways of doing it that generate fewer emissions. In 2019, the top sources of emissions from tourism were aviation and private vehicle use.

So staying local and using public transport will help to keep your emissions down. We’ve included lots of UK-based options in the guide such as hostel and self-catering accommodation providers (read on to find out which ones give a discount if you arrive by public transport). 

We’ve also included Byway Travel which arranges flight-free trips in Europe.

Is holiday accommodation sustainable?

There is evidence to suggest that hostels have a lower climate impact than hotels. 

Research carried out in 2023 compared emissions per bed in a hostel with emissions from six hotel chains and found that they were 82% lower. The research was admittedly commissioned by an online hostel booking company but an independent study looking at different types of accommodation in Spain also found that a hostel had the lowest climate impact. As well as that, a lot of the hostels covered by the providers in this guide have space for campers whose impact is likely to be low. 

Because of this we rewarded hostel providers with marks in our Climate rating for providing a lower-carbon alternative to the mainstream.

By contrast, Booking.com lost marks for its so-called “Travel Sustainable” programme which was criticised by the Dutch consumer regulator for misleading customers and implying accommodation that was part of the programme was sustainable when it wasn’t.

Overtourism

Beyond the climate impact of travel, residents of popular destinations have experienced a whole range of negative effects as tourism has increased. These include housing shortage, pollution, street overcrowding, transport congestion, disproportionate enlargement of infrastructure, and precarious working conditions as whole cities turn their economies towards tourism.

Protests have taken place, particularly in southern European cities, with protesters demanding government action to reduce tourist numbers.

Find places that aren't on the bucket lists

Some of the brands in this guide are taking steps to address overtourism: 

• Canopy & Stars has capped the amount of accommodation it lists in three locations severely affected by overtourism – the Isle of Skye, Snowdonia, and the Lake District.
• Intrepid Travel publishes a Not Hot List each year which highlights ten lesser-known destinations which have the infrastructure and desire to receive more tourists.
• Landmark Trust states that it promotes less well-known UK destinations as many of its properties are off the beaten track.

Airbnb and the growth of short-term lets

Airbnb has travelled a long way from its roots in the sharing economy. 

Once a novel and potentially environmentally-friendly way to make a bit of extra money from a spare room, Airbnb is now a platform for professional renters: the vast majority of accommodation on offer is whole apartments and more than half are advertised by hosts with more than one listing.

It has been widely criticised for its negative impact on housing, particularly in popular tourist destinations. By converting long-term rentals into short-term lets for tourists, the housing supply is reduced and rents rise, potentially pricing out local inhabitants. 

It’s not just Airbnb that has this impact as companies such as Booking.com and Expedia also list short-term lets alongside other types of accommodation.

Many cities have introduced regulations to reduce the impact of short-term lets, such as limiting the number of nights a property can be rented out or requiring owners to register with local authorities. In December 2025, Spain’s Consumer Affairs Ministry ordered Airbnb to remove over 65,000 listings that didn’t comply with its regulations and fined it €64m, equivalent to six times the profit obtained by Airbnb from the illegal listings.

Ethical holiday booking tip: book direct

If you are looking for holiday accommodation, it can be hard to avoid the big booking websites. Search for accommodation online and the results will be dominated by Booking.com, Expedia, and the brands they own. Because of this, many small hotels have to use them to list their rooms. 

But you don’t have to use them to book.

Once you’ve found a hotel you like on one of the big sites, you can search for its own website or phone number and book directly. In this way, your money goes straight to the small business and, given that the booking sites charge commissions of between 15 and 20%, you might get a better price or package. 

Both YHA and Hostelling Scotland promise you’ll get the best price by booking through them.

Which travel companies have connections with Israel?

We rate companies on their connections with Israel.

Worst travel companies for Israel rating

The three big online booking platforms scored 0 (out of 100) as they are BDS targets which “all offer rentals in illegal Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land”:

• Airbnb
• Booking.com
• Expedia

TUI, (which also owns First Choice) scored 10 as it was criticised in a 2024 report published by the Don’t Buy Into Occupation coalition as several of its subsidiaries offer guided tours that are solely branded as visiting Israel but include sites in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and the occupied Syrian Golan. They therefore support and normalise the existence of illegal settlements.

Middling brands

Lastminute.com (45/100) and Vitruvian Partners LLC (Sykes Cottages) both scored 40/100 for this rating; hey lost marks as they had investments in subsidiaries in Israel.

Hays Travel scored 40 as evidence was found of a relationship between the company and the Israeli state: an article in Travel Weekly, dated 7 February 2025, stated that the director of the Israel Tourism Office in the UK was in talks with UK travel agents, including Hays, about rebuilding visitor numbers to Israel.

Best companies for Palestine

Hostelling Scotland scored 90 (out of 100) as it had no links and no policy but was considered to have taken action in support of Palestine as two of its hostels had hosted events for Medical Aid for Palestine and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The following companies scored 80 as they had no links with Israel but did not have a policy limiting operations in/sourcing from Israel: 

• Byway Travel
• Co-op Travel
• Canopy & Stars
• Independent Hostels
• Landmark Trust
• National Trust
• Platinum Equity LLC (Cottages.com, Hoseasons, Novasol)
• YHA.

Several companies scored 70 as they ran tours to Israel and therefore contributed to the flow of money to the Israeli state. These were: 

• G Adventures (including Just You, Travelsphere)
• Intrepid Travel
• Jet2
• Trailfinders

All these Israel tours were temporarily halted but were still advertised so looked likely to resume in future.

Who owns which travel brands?

If you use a couple of different travel and booking sites, you might be using the same overall company. 

In the table below we list the parent company of some of the brands in the table. If you're looking to avoid certain companies, you might also want to avoid their partner brands.

Are travel companies eco friendly?

We rate companies for their climate action and policies.

Canopy & Stars, Midcounties Co-op (Co-op Travel), and the National Trust came top for Climate with 70 (out of 100). They all had detailed discussion of their climate impacts and how they were reducing them.

Midcounties Co-op had reduced its emissions by 15% in the last five years. The National Trust had reduced its emissions by 16% since 2020, largely because of its decision to divest from fossil fuel companies in 2019. Its website has lots of information about how to visit its sites without driving but sadly no discount for doing so.

Canopy & Stars got points for supporting the transition to a lower-carbon society as it partners with Good Energy to provide discounts to its accommodation providers on installation of renewable energy products such as solar panels and heat pumps. It also gives you a £75 voucher for your next stay if you arrive by public transport.

Five other companies received points for supporting the transition: 

• Byway Travel for arranging rail-only holidays
• Independent Hostels, Hostelling Scotland, and YHA for providing shared accommodation. 

Independent Hostels also encourages the hostels in its network to give a discount if you arrive by public transport and 13 of them currently do so. 

Intrepid Travel is supporting its suppliers to decarbonise by providing loans for electric vehicles and has launched a new rail-travel range.

Worst travel companies for climate action

The following companies scored 0 for climate action and policies:

• Awaze (Hoseasons, Cottages.com, Novasol) and the G Adventures Group (G Adventures, Just You, Travelsphere) as they had minimal discussion of their impacts and how they were reducing them.
• Airbnb, Jet2, and TUI had some discussion and reporting but scored 0 overall because they received external criticisms:

Airbnb for misleading customers about its carbon footprint and expanding its services without clarity about how this would impact its net zero target;

Jet2 for its use of offsetting and for being the fastest-growing airline for flights departing the UK in 2024;

TUI for making misleading sustainability claims.

Tax conduct of travel companies

It seems many travel companies have trouble paying their fair share of tax. 

All of the big tech platforms, scored 0 (out of 100) for Tax Conduct in our rating: 

• Airbnb
• Booking Holdings
• Expedia
• Last Minute.com 

TUI also scored zero, with its subsidiaries in Bermuda and Luxembourg.

Perhaps more surprising, Sykes Cottages and Awaze (owner of Cottages.com, Hoseasons, and Novasol) also scored 0. Both are owned by private equity firms with subsidiaries in countries such as Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. 

G Adventures and its sister brands scored 20 as it has a related party in its company group that is based in Barbados and no explanation could be found for its presence there. 

Jet2 scored 20 as it has subsidiaries in tax havens although not of a type that were high risk for tax avoidance.

Byway Travel also lost some marks as it has one subsidiary in the Netherlands and its purpose was unclear. 

All the other companies scored 100 with Co-op Travel deserving particular recognition for being Fair Tax Mark accredited.

Vegan travel

Travelling as a vegan can be hard but there are websites that can help where you can find vegan and vegetarian restaurants and accommodation such as:

• www.happycow.net
• www.veggie-hotels.com

There are also travel companies that cater to vegans such as:

• www.worldvegantravel.com
• www.vegan-cruises.com

Holiday providers profiting from animal cruelty 

TUI is currently the subject of a boycott call by World Animal Protection because of its sale of tickets to marine parks. The UK-based animal welfare charity says that TUI Group is the last major UK holiday provider still selling tickets to dolphin entertainment venues where around 400 dolphins are confined to tanks 200,000 times smaller than their natural ocean habitats. The dolphins are made to perform tricks and subjected to constant noise, stress, and human interaction. The charity is aiming for 75,000 signatories calling for and end to dolphin entertainment. You can sign their petition online. 

In 2024, Jet2 announced that it would stop selling tickets to marine parks following a two-year campaign by PETA which involved protests at company AGMs and a Love Island star in a bathtub, body-painted as an orca.

Booking sites whitewashing Uyghur human rights abuses

In April 2025, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) published research which exposed the operation and expansion of major hotel chains in the Uyghur region. It found that Accor, Hilton, IHG, Marriott, and Wyndham were operating at least 115 hotels there and were developing 74 more, despite overwhelming evidence of widespread human rights abuses. The report stated that the hotels “do not operate in isolation from these abuses, but function within a system of state control that weaponizes the tourism industry in order to present the region as ‘normal’ and open for international business and investment”.

The report also criticised booking websites included in this guide for promoting dozens of hotel listings across the region without reference to ongoing atrocities, further enabling hotel expansion. These were Booking.com, Kayak, and Agoda (all owned by Booking Holdings), and Expedia and Hotels.com (owned by Expedia, Inc). The report called for all accommodation listings in the Uyghur region to be removed from their websites but when we checked in December 2025 we found many listings for accommodation in the Uyghur region on all the websites.

In an earlier report published in 2023, UHRP criticised travel companies for arranging tours to the Uyghur region despite ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide (by policies of birth prevention targeted at Uyghur women). It stated that by bringing tourists to the region travel companies were “implicitly supporting the normalization of genocidal Chinese government policies” and called on them to end their tours. One of the criticised companies was Recommended brand Intrepid Travel which withdrew its tours and removed the relevant pages from its website shortly after publication of the report and coverage of it by the Guardian.

Excessive pay for travel company execs

There are some massive salaries in the travel sector. 

• in 2023 Booking Holdings paid its CEO $46.7m;
• in 2024 Expedia’s CEO received $24.9m; and
• in 2025 Trailfinders’ CEO received £20.5m. 

They all lost marks in the Company Ethos category for paying their directors over £10m. 

TUI and Jet2 paid their CEOs over £1m and also lost some marks, as did Vitruvian Partners LLC (Sykes Cottages) and Intrepid as they were large companies that didn’t disclose their directors’ salaries.

High scoring travel companies for workers' rights

On the positive side, Canopy & Stars received marks for being Living Wage certified and Independent Hostels received marks as all staff including the managing director receive the same hourly wage.

Additional research by Jasmine Owens.