The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned advertisements from holiday companies Thomas Cook and Loveholidays for making misleading environmental claims. The regulator determined that terms like 'eco resort' and 'eco hotel' were used without sufficient explanation, breaching advertising standards.
An AI-powered monitoring system flagged paid-for Google adverts from both companies on July 15, 2026. The ASA concluded that consumers could interpret these terms as indicating environmental benefits or characteristics that were not clearly substantiated within the ads.
Thomas Cook's advert for 'Sandos Caracol Eco Resort' was flagged because the term 'eco resort' was used without adequate clarification. The company stated that the phrase was automatically generated by Google Ads tools based on customer search terms and that the hotel had recently changed its name. Thomas Cook has since blocked the old hotel name as a search keyword to prevent similar ads from appearing in the future. While the resort did possess environmentally friendly features such as solar power and a nature reserve, this information was not detailed in the advertisement.
Loveholidays was criticized for two Google ads, one mentioning 'Green Garden Eco Resort' and another for 'Marvida Family Eco Hotel.' The company argued that 'eco' was part of the properties' trading names provided by suppliers, not an environmental claim made by Loveholidays. However, the ASA ruled that the basis of such claims needed to be made clear to consumers. Although the accommodations had environmental initiatives detailed on their own websites, this was not communicated within the ads themselves.
Miles Lockwood, director of complaints and investigations at the ASA, emphasized the importance of transparency. "For people looking to make more environmentally conscious choices when it comes to booking their holidays, it's important that they can trust the claims that they see in ads," Lockwood stated. "Today's rulings make clear that if a hotel or resort is described as 'eco' or 'eco-conscious,' advertisers need to be clear about what that means, so people have the information they need to make an informed choice about where to book."
Both companies have been instructed to amend or withdraw the offending advertisements. Thomas Cook stated that the ASA has closed its investigation into the matter, while Loveholidays confirmed they have updated listings and removed the advertisements, vowing to continue reviewing their processes for clearer customer information.