Virgin Trains is one of the winners of animal rights charity PETA‘s new Travel Awards.

The awards are described as a ‘celebration of the travel providers, hotels, attractions, and other industry leaders that are meeting the skyrocketing demand for vegan and animal-friendly travel’.

Virgin Trains scooped the prize for Best Trainline for Vegan Food, with Vegan Travel, and Malmaison picking up the gongs for Best Cruise, and Best Hotel Chain respectively.

Virgin Trains vegan food

The train line launched multiple vegan options at the beginning of this year, including a breakfast pot complete with mushrooms, hash browns, spinach and baked beans, and chilli in the evenings from the shops. Its First Class menus include a potato hash breakfast, Mediterranean pasta salad and spicy Bombay potato. 

“The clear message we’ve had from vegan customers is they need consistency so they have peace of mind when they board the train,” Julie Harper, Virgin Trains’ food & beverage proposition manager, said when the products were launched.
“We’ve worked really hard to ensure that our menus in First and Standard deliver that consistency throughout the day and include some really delicious, appetising options that we hope will tempt vegans and non-vegans alike.”

Vegan winners

Among the other winners were 100 percent vegan establishment Saorsa 1875, which won Best Luxury Hotel. 

The vegan-friendly menu at Warner Bros Studio Tour London* helped the Harry Potter tour win Best Attraction, and HappyCow won Best Travel App for helping globetrotters find vegan meals wherever they go.

Responsible Travel, British Airways, Eurostar and more also picked up prizes – with the full list of winners available here.

The future of tourism

“The number of vegans in the UK is set to skyrocket by 327 percent by next year, so any company that’s not meeting the demand for animal-friendly travel is missing out,” said PETA Director Yvonne Taylor.

“All the winners of PETA’s first-ever Travel Awards prove that the future of tourism is packed with animal-friendly options – and free of exploitative exhibits.”

*This tour used to include owls in performances but has since stopped using animals.