How can vegan travellers best prepare for work trips? Share our tips on how to find vegan hotels, restaurants and snacks on the road.
From catered events to client dinners, work trips are often strictly regimented, making vegan travel a greater challenge than it would be for leisure visitors. While veganism may be a relatively modern concept in some countries, others like India, the most vegan country in the world, have long considered it a cultural norm. And even those who don’t identify as vegan have started including vegan additions to their diets — over 80% of people have tried milk alternatives. The good news is that these vegan options are widely available, especially when you arrive prepared. In this article, we’ll offer some practical planning tips for business travellers following a vegan diet. We’ll also cover how travel bookers and admins, business owners and HR can all support their employees’ dietary preferences in a more inclusive way, anywhere in the world.
As any business vegan traveller knows, research is key before embarking on any trip.
You can expect plenty of vegan restaurants in cities like London and Berlin, where plant-based dining is widely adopted. Yet even in more remote locations there are local cuisines that naturally include vegan options. For example, Indian,, and Mediterranean cuisines all feature an abundance of legumes and seasonal vegetables, making it easy to sample ‘accidentally vegan’ curries, stews and salads.
Some countries will be more challenging, particularly larger ones like the United States or China where vegan options may only be found in big cities or certain areas. It can be tricky in seafood-reliant countries like Japan, where vegans may be caught out by staple ingredients like dashi that include dried fish. And vegans abroad may face a challenge in areas of South America where meat is an integral part of the diet, such as beef-loving Argentina.
Before you depart, find out how vegan-friendly your destination is using apps like HappyCow, city-specific subreddits, sites like Wikitravel and vegan travel blogs. This will give you the most current information about local dishes to try, making it easier to quickly scan menus upon arrival. You’ll also come armed with on-the-ground knowledge of the best vegan-friendly hotels, restaurants, and business accommodation.
Before travel, consider learning, or even printing out, a few stock phrases for vegans abroad such as:
You should also learn the words for various meat and dairy ingredients so that you’ll be able to recognise them on menus. Translation apps can help fill in any gaps, but for areas where reception may be poor, these stock phrases are helpful to write down.
Another tip is to learn phrases stating what you can eat, not just what you can’t. For example, if you’re travelling to Japan, you can state that while you can’t eat meat, seafood, eggs, or dairy, you can eat tofu, rice, soba noodles, and vegetables.
Translation apps like Google Translate or DeepL are essentials for any business traveller, but they’re particularly useful when you need to explain your dietary requirements.
Along with translation apps, the HappyCow app is a must-have for vegan travel. It not only lists vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants in each destination, but also will help you find grocery stores, shops, and accommodation with interactive maps.
Online reviews are also a valuable resource to find out from diners themselves if a restaurant really is vegan, and really is worth a visit. You can also check online forums dedicated to sharing vegan advice to see if there are any specific restaurants being recommended by the local vegan community. Similarly, the sites run by the official tourist boards, like Visit Berlin, may have their own vegan guide.
And don’t worry if you find yourself Googling last-minute, with a 5000% increase in the search for ‘vegan food near me’ in 2021 alone, the algorithm has had plenty of training on giving solid results.
A little pre-trip preparation sets you up for success on business flights. An increasing number of international airlines are now offering plant-based meals to meet global demand. Emirates serves 400,000 vegan meals each year, with over 300 plant-based options in rotation, while Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines are two other vegan-friendly standouts. Singapore’s partnered with California-based chefs from luxury spa Golden Door to create a tasty, plant-based experience.
What’s the best way to access vegan cuisine in the air? First, if you’re a member of any airline loyalty programmes, you can often update your online profile with dietary preferences. You can also request a vegan meal on the plane, provided you do so at least 72 hours in advance. It’s helpful to understand the various IATA airline meal codes to ensure your in-flight meal doesn’t contain animal produce:
For fully vegan business travellers, VGML is the code to order. Yet even when ordering special meals, dining doesn’t always go according to plan and in-flight mix-ups happen. Store a few emergency supplies to keep energy levels high during delays. It’s a good idea to stock up on a few healthy snacks like energy bars, instant soup packets, porridge pots, and fruit to have on hand in case vegan options are in short supply.
It’s also worth noting that almost 80% of vegans chose to enter the lifestyle based on environmental concerns, so you may want to also consider more eco-friendly ways of travelling if you know your business guests would prefer it.
The best vegan hotels offer plant-based dining options as standard, and this is set to become the norm with 33% of hotels saying they’re seeing more and more demand for it. Many ethical vegans avoid animal products entirely, which means they require rooms with down- and wool-free bedding options. If you don’t see this policy clearly listed on the hotel website, call ahead to request alternative pillows and blankets. This policy is often listed under ‘allergy-free’ bedding rather than vegan, as some travellers are also allergic to down and wool.
Yes, many hotel chains offer vegan-friendly accommodation for business travellers. This is something for booking managers to keep in mind as well, as you can add vegan hotels to your company’s approved accommodation list.
Here are a few of the most notable chains worldwide:
Navigating client meetings while adhering to international corporate etiquette is a delicate balancing act for vegan business travellers. On overseas visits, you’ll often need to attend business meetings conducted over lunch or dinner. And in countries like Korea, India, and France, dining together isn’t optional – it’s an expected part of networking. These social connections are just as important as your sales presentations.
Here are a few tips to make these situations more comfortable.
Travel coordinators can best support their vegan team members by making sure their plans are fully inclusive. While planning a menu for a large group of attendees can become complicated with multiple dietary requirements, catering companies should be well-prepared, and most airlines also offer a vegan option.
Whether you’re planning a client dinner or multi-day conference, start by asking your business travellers about their dietary requirements. Then, you can make sure you’re working with a catering team or restaurant that can accommodate everyone successfully. Consider the following strategies:
In addition to planning meals and events, admins can best support their vegan travellers by providing resources like those we’ve mentioned above, including apps, localised food delivery apps and language guides for each region. Consider using these to create a central vegan travel guide for employees to help them navigate their options successfully.
It's also important to update your company travel programme as needed, making it inclusive of vegan dietary needs when planning events. Try our corporate travel policy builder to get started and consider preapproving vegan hotel chains on your company’s online booking platform.
With all-in-one booking solutions like Tripeden.com for Business, travellers and managers can work together to find the right accommodation. You can build in vegan features, like down-free pillows and wool-free bedding, as filters for business travellers who are booking their own accommodation. And when employees are travelling to regions where vegan dining options are scarce, consider offering accommodation with kitchen access as a suitable compromise.
For business travellers and admins alike, advance research takes away much of the stress of vegan travel. And along with researching your dining options, don’t forget about the importance of understanding – and enjoying – the local culture and cuisine.
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