Popular travel firms rate poorly in new ethical rankings

The first report of its kind to assess the ethical practices of travel booking sites has named luxury camping company Canopy & Stars and Fairbnb, a non-profit that donates half of its 15% commission fee to local community projects, as the most ethical options for holidaymakers.

Conducted by Ethical Consumer, the UK’s leading alternative consumer organisation, the report focused on 29 companies that people use to book their own transport and accommodation, rather than holiday operators.

Ruth Strange, lead researcher on the project, said: “Companies talk about sustainability but it’s hard for people who don’t know how to analyse them to know how much action is being taken.”

The purpose of the report, Strange added, was to provide trustworthy information for consumers and encourage people to reconsider how they travel, “avoid flying and think of alternatives”.

She emphasised that while big companies and governments should be tackling the issue, it was also vital for holidaymakers to “think differently” and “influence friends and family to make changes” when it came to booking holidays abroad, in order to reduce the effect that air travel has on the planet.

Each company was given a starting score of 14, with points deducted for failing to meet ethical standards in different categories such as setting clear targets to reduce environmental impact and involvement in tax-avoidance schemes. Points were added for positive practices such as being not-for-profit, a B Corps or charity.

It ranked industry leaders Expedia, Tripadvisor and Airbnb in the bottom 10. Airbnb was ranked worst for excessive pay with a remuneration package for its CEO of $120m in 2020 (albeit almost all of that being in the form of stock awards).

YHA, the charity providing youth hostel accommodation, and Independent Hostels UK, which collates independently owned hostels across the UK into one online guide, were recommended alongside Canopy & Stars and Fairbnb as the sites that consumers should book with for ethical practices. Canopy & Stars’ B Corp status and commitment to carbon management and reporting were commended.

Strange said she was “shocked to find that very few of the brands we covered were taking their responsibility to the planet seriously,” finding that “only three companies we looked at were judged to be reasonably tackling their carbon impacts.”

Tui ranked last in the list. The report highlighted that the company lost half a point for its history of providing deportation flights to remove migrants from the UK. It also alleged that the site continues to sell tickets to parks keeping orcas in captivity, despite years of animal rights campaigning.