Helping Travelers with Dietary Restrictions Find Safer Stays: A Conversation with George Simons, Founder of Free From Travel

Travel should be exciting. For people with food allergies, celiac disease, intolerances, and other dietary restrictions, however, it can often come with an extra layer of stress.

Where will I eat?
Will the hotel understand my needs?
Can I trust the information I find online?
Has anyone with similar dietary restrictions stayed there safely before?

These are the kinds of questions that inspired George, founder of Free From Travel, to build a platform with a big mission: to become the “Booking.com” for people with dietary restrictions.

I recently had the chance to speak with George following the launch of Free From Travel at the Free From Show in Birmingham. It was a busy and exciting weekend for him, filled with conversations with travelers, families, and businesses who all understand just how important safe and inclusive travel can be.

Why Free From Travel Exists

George’s journey began with his own experience living with celiac disease. Like many people with dietary restrictions, he found that planning a holiday often required hours of research. Even then, the information available could be scattered, outdated, or based on one person’s experience in a Facebook group or online review.

For travelers with celiac disease or food allergies, finding a hotel or resort is not just about amenities, location, or price. It is also about understanding whether a place can manage dietary needs safely and consistently.

That challenge led George to begin researching accommodations that could provide safer, more enjoyable experiences for travelers with dietary restrictions. He initially focused on all-inclusive resorts across Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean, but the vision has grown beyond that. Free From Travel aims to help people discover a variety of holiday options and destinations with greater confidence.

A More Transparent Way to Plan Travel

One of the most valuable aspects of Free From Travel is its focus on transparency.

Rather than simply listing hotels as “allergy-friendly” or “celiac-friendly,” the platform contacts accommodations directly and asks detailed questions about their allergen management practices. These questions cover areas such as menu transparency, cross-contamination prevention, staff training, and whether guests need to notify the hotel of their dietary needs in advance.

The responses are then shared with users, including confirmation dates, so travelers can see what the hotel has said and decide for themselves whether they feel comfortable booking.

This approach recognizes something very important: every traveler has a different comfort level. What feels safe for one person may not be enough for another. By giving people access to clear information, Free From Travel helps travelers make more informed decisions based on their own needs.

Reducing the Research Burden

During our conversation, George explained that one of the major goals of Free From Travel is to reduce the amount of research travelers have to do before booking a trip.

Anyone who has planned travel with dietary restrictions knows how exhausting the process can be. It often involves reading reviews, searching social media groups, emailing hotels, checking restaurant menus, and still feeling uncertain.

Free From Travel helps by centralizing information, contacting hotels, and notifying accommodations of guests’ allergens or dietary needs in advance whenever possible. The goal is not only to help people find places that can accommodate them, but also to make the entire planning process feel less overwhelming.

Supporting Businesses That Get It Right

Another important part of Free From Travel’s mission is helping businesses that cater well to dietary requirements succeed.

There are hotels, resorts, restaurants, and travel businesses around the world that are making genuine efforts to serve guests with dietary restrictions. Free From Travel gives those businesses a way to be discovered by the people who need them most.

This creates a positive cycle. Travelers gain access to better information and safer options, while businesses that invest in inclusion and allergen awareness are rewarded with more visibility and bookings.

The Power of Community

George also spoke about the bigger-picture potential of the dietary restriction community.

When travelers with food allergies, celiac disease, intolerances, and other dietary needs come together, they represent a powerful group. By sharing experiences, asking better questions, and supporting businesses that do things well, the community can help improve travel options worldwide.

This is something we deeply connect with at Equal Eats. Our mission is to help people “enjoy food everywhere,” and travel is such an important part of that. Whether through translation cards, better communication tools, or platforms like Free From Travel, the goal is the same: helping people feel safer, more confident, and more included when exploring the world.

A Promising Step Forward for Dietary Travel

Free From Travel publicly launched after two years of development, and it is exciting to see a platform dedicated to solving such a specific and meaningful problem.

For people with dietary restrictions, safe travel is about more than convenience. It is about peace of mind. It is about feeling included. It is about knowing that the place you are staying understands your needs before you arrive.

George and Free From Travel are working to make that process easier, clearer, and more empowering for travelers around the world.

If you have celiac disease, food allergies, intolerances, or other dietary requirements and are looking for support planning your next trip, Free From Travel is a platform worth exploring.

At Equal Eats, we are excited to support initiatives like this that help make travel safer and more accessible for our community.