Standard and criteria
The Travelife Standard has been developed specifically for tour operators and travel agencies. It translates internationally recognised sustainability principles and good practices into practical requirements that can be applied within the day-to-day operations and supply chains of tourism companies.
The criteria provide companies with a structured framework for integrating sustainability into their organisation. They combine requirements for sustainability management with concrete environmental, social and responsible business practices.
Travelife Partner criteria
The Travelife Partner criteria focus on establishing and implementing a structured sustainability management approach within the company. They include approximately 60 mandatory criteria covering sustainability policy, objectives and responsibilities, procedures, action planning, monitoring and key environmental, social and responsible business practices.
Travelife Certified criteria
The Travelife Certified criteria build upon the Travelife Partner criteria and form the basis for the highest certification level within the Travelife programme. Companies seeking Travelife Certified status must demonstrate through an extensive independent on-site audit that the applicable sustainability requirements are implemented within the organisation and its business practices.
The Travelife logo does not mean that a company, destination or holiday is free of environmental or social effects. It shows that the company has implemented a recognised and independently assessed approach to identify and address sustainability issues, take concrete measures to reduce negative effects where possible, strengthen positive contributions, and continuously improve its sustainability performance.
Clear requirements and objective evidence
Each Travelife criterion defines a requirement that the company must meet. To support implementation, criteria are accompanied by guidance, practical tools and information on the objective evidence that can be used to demonstrate compliance.
This approach helps companies understand what is expected and provides assessors and auditors with a consistent basis for verifying implementation.
International framework
The Travelife criteria are aligned with internationally recognised sustainability principles, guidelines and good practices.
The original Travelife criteria were developed through a broad multi-stakeholder process involving tourism companies, industry associations, universities, governments and civil society organisations, with support from the European Union.
International frameworks and principles taken into account in the development and further evolution of the Travelife criteria include:
- ISO 14001 and EMAS environmental management principles;
- OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
- United Nations Global Compact;
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI);
- Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC);
- UN Environment guidance for sustainability management in tourism;
- The common criteria and conformity assessment principles developed within the Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance (TSCA).
Continuous development
Tourism, legislation, sustainability knowledge and recognised good practices continue to evolve. Travelife therefore periodically reviews and updates its criteria in consultation with tourism companies, sustainability experts and other relevant stakeholders.
This helps ensure that the Travelife Standard remains relevant to developments within the tourism sector, while continuing to provide a practical and internationally applicable framework for tour operators and travel agencies.