Travelife for Tour Operators Achieves GSTC-Accredited Status
January 10, 2018 – The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that the Travelife for Tour Operators has achieved the ‘GSTC-Accredited’ status. The awarded status affirms Travelife’s for Tour Operators commitment to promoting sustainable tourism products and services.
Travelife for Tour operators is a leading global sustainability scheme specifically designed for tour operators with more than 500 members from 80 countries across all continents. Travelife for Tour operators provides an integrated set of trainings, best practices, implementation instruments and suppliers assessment tools, leading to certification.
Achieving the GSTC-Accredited status means that a certification program is following processes and procedures that have been reviewed and approved by the GSTC Accreditation Panel. Businesses certified by a GSTC-Accredited certification program can also use the GSTC language and logo when they meet all GSTC Criteria. The purpose of the GSTC programs is to recognize and reward genuine practitioners of sustainable tourism, which in turn builds confidence and credibility with consumers.
“At a time when tourism is facing great challenges for the impacts of its continuous growth, Travelife for Tour Operators offers to the tourism businesses the option of managing all their operations in a truly sustainable manner. The GSTC accreditation places Travelife amongst a selected group of certification bodies that meet the highest standards,” says Luigi Cabrini, GSTC Chair.
Naut Kusters, General Manager of Travelife for Tour Operators stated: “the achievement of GSTC Accredited status is a recognition for the leadership Travelife for Tour operators has shown during the last decade in integrating sustainability among tour operators and their supply chains. We expect that the GSTC Accredited status will provide an incentive for more tour operators to reach the Travelife Certified status.”
To date, 5 programs have achieved GSTC-Accredited status. The completion of these step-wise programs rewards certification bodies for their commitment to sustainability while offering the market benefit of proof that their certification process is credible and adhere to international norms.
GSTC-Recognized standard owners are encouraged to join the leading GSTC-Accredited programs and complete the Accreditation process which relates to the quality and neutrality of their certification process. Achieving a GSTC-Accredited status affirms that their certification process follows the highest international standards while further distinguishing their standards and processes amongst other certification programs. Learn more about GSTC Accreditation.
About the GSTC
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) establishes and manages global sustainable tourism standards with the aim of increasing sustainable tourism knowledge and practices among public and private stakeholders. The GSTC is an independent and neutral USA-registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that establishes and manages global baseline standards for sustainability in travel and tourism. The standards are two sets of GSTC Criteria: Destination Criteria and Industry Criteria, the minimum requirements for tourism businesses and destinations to pursue in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources, along with conservation and poverty alleviation. The GSTC represents a diverse and global membership, including UN agencies, leading travel companies, hotels, country tourism boards, tour operators, individuals and communities – all strive to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism.
Media Contact: communications@gstcouncil.org
About Travelife for Tour Operators
Travelife for Tour operators is a leading global sustainability scheme for the tour operator sector with more than 500 members from 80 countries across all continents. Travelife provides an integrated set of trainings, best practices, implementation, suppliers and certification tools specifically designed for tour operators and accessible through its state of the art IT system. The Travelife certification standard follows the management logic of a travel company and is in compliance with ISO 14001, OECD, The Global Reporting Initiative, ISO 26000 and the GSTC Industry criteria. Travelife is the scheme of choice of more than 30 national and international travel associations and is affordable for micro to multinational companies. www.travelife.info
Media contact: n.kusters@travelife.info
