Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on environmental claims in the travel agent sector. This ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathering by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 9 September 2026.
Ad description
A paid-for Meta ad for DialAFlight, a travel agent, seen on 30 July 2026, stated “Set on Saadiyat Beach East, Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort also puts you within easy reach of the city centre, just a ten-minute drive away. This modern hotel boasts its own private beach area, as well as good food and an opulent spa”. A video embedded in the ad showed scenes from inside the resort, which included a swimming pool, food and drink, and beds on an empty beach. Under that, text stated “Reconnect with yourself and your surroundings at our eco-conscious resort […]”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the basis of the claim “eco-conscious resort” was clear.
Response
Lotus International Ltd t/a DialAFlight said the claim “eco-conscious” resort had been taken from a factsheet provided by the accommodation.
Jumeirah International LLC t/a Jumeirah Saadiyat Island provided a list of environmental initiatives and activities undertaken at the resort.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code required that the basis of environmental claims must be clear. Unqualified claims could mislead if they omitted material information.
The ASA considered consumers would understand the claim “eco-conscious resort” as meaning the advertised accommodation had some environmental characteristic or benefit.
The term “eco” did not have a standardised meaning. Its basis when used as shorthand to describe the environmental characteristics or benefits of accommodation was therefore likely to differ between accommodation providers. Accordingly, consumers needed sufficient information about the basis of such a claim to understand what environmental characteristics or benefits were being referred to. That information would enable them to assess the relevance and significance of those characteristics when deciding whether or not to proceed on their consumer journey.
We understood from the factsheet provided by DialAFlight and from information provided by the resort that the advertised accommodation had several environmental initiatives, including: efforts to reduce single-use plastics across its operations; greywater recycling facilities; efforts to reduce food waste; in-house recycling facilities; and local environmental outreach work. However, that information had not been clearly explained in the ad, and we considered that the ad was not limited by time or space to the extent that the information could not have been provided. There was therefore sufficient space within the ad to make clear the basis of the claim “eco-conscious resort” so that consumers could proceed with their consumer journey in an informed manner. In addition, the ad's landing page did not include information that explained the basis of the claim.
For those reasons we concluded the ad had not met the requirements of the Code. We welcomed DialAFlight’s assurance the ad had been withdrawn.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.3 (Misleading advertising), and 11.1 (Environmental claims).
Action
The ad must remain withdrawn. We told Lotus International Ltd t/a DialAFlight to ensure they made the basis of any environmental claims clear.
