The rulings, published on Wednesday 9 September, found that describing the properties as "Eco Resorts" or "Eco Hotels" did not clearly explain what made them environmentally friendly.
The cases arise from the ASA's ongoing AI-powered active ad monitoring, which monitors environmental claims in travel advertising and flags ads that could be in breach of its guidelines.
Thomas Cook claims ad 'generated automatically'
The Thomas Cook ruling concerned a Google ad seen on 15 July for Sandos Caracol Eco Resort, situated along Mexico's Playa del Carmen. The ad featured the accommodation name followed by: "Relax at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort – flights included. Book now with Thomas Cook."
Thomas Cook told the ASA the "Eco Resort" wording had been generated automatically by Google's Performance Max or Dynamic Search Ads tools in response to consumers' search terms.
It said the hotel had changed its name in July 2025, but some consumers might still have searched for it using its previous name. After being contacted by the ASA, Thomas Cook said it had blocked "Sandos Caracol Eco" as a search keyword to prevent the wording appearing in future ads.
The ASA nevertheless upheld the complaint, saying consumers would understand "Eco Resort" as indicating the accommodation had environmental characteristics or benefits, rather than seeing it as part of the property's name.
'Eco' claim provided by suppliers, Loveholidays argues
Two loveholidays Google ads were also investigated. One promoted "Green Garden Eco Resort" in Tenerife with deposits from £25pp, while the second advertised Turkey's "Marvida Family Eco Hotel" with an end-of-summer offer of up to £400 off holidays.
Loveholidays said it aggregated and resold accommodation supplied by independent operators and did not own, operate or manage either property. It added the names, including the use of "Eco", had been provided by its suppliers and were reproduced for "identification purposes" rather than as environmental claims made or endorsed by loveholidays.
The ASA rejected the argument, finding that consumers would understand "Eco Resort" and "Eco Hotel" as descriptions of the properties and their environmental characteristics.
Why green claims need regulating to keep travel marketing honest
The watchdog found evidence of environmental measures at all three properties. Sandos Caracol featured solar power, water treatment systems and a nature reserve; Green Garden Eco Resort had eliminated single-use plastics, used LED lighting and motion sensors to reduce electricity consumption, and avoided harmful chemicals. Marvida Family Eco Hotel, meanwhile, had measures covering waste separation and recycling, water and electricity consumption, and food waste.
However, the ASA said those measures were not clearly explained in the advertisements. Nor was there evidence that the information had been provided through another prominent route, such as the linked landing page.
All three ads were therefore found to breach of the ASA's code. The authority has told Thomas Cook and Loveholidays to amend or withdraw the offending ads.
Latest cases in wider crackdown
The rulings follow a series of ASA investigations into environmental claims made by travel retailers. In September 2025, Barrhead Travel, Cruise1st, Cruise Circle and Cruise.co.uk all had complaints upheld over sustainability claims in cruise advertising.
The ASA has previously said agents can be responsible for environmental claims appearing in advertising even where the wording originates with suppliers or third-party content.
This crackdown on environmental claims began in 2023 when Intrepid Travel, one of the industry's sustainability leaders, was told not to use the term "planet friendly" in its advertising.