Travelife for Hotels & Accommodations and Rainforest Alliance – two leading sustainability certification programmes – have announced a ground-breaking partnership to increase the choice of internationally approved sustainable accommodation available to holiday-makers.

The two sustainability certification schemes signed an agreement whereby all hotels and accommodations which prove they meet the Rainforest Alliance’s assessment criteria will also be able to display the Travelife for Hotels & Accommodations certification mark and be marketed through their promotional channels – such as partner tour operator members, online travel agents and the Travelife Collection website.

The announcement, bringing together two of the biggest brands worldwide in the sector, marks a significant development in the industry. As well as uniting leading schemes from both Europe and Latin America & the Caribbean, it is the first time two sustainability certification schemes for hotels have partnered in this way.

Accommodations that have already been certified as sustainable by the Rainforest Alliance, as well as those that achieve it in the future, will be offered the opportunity to also carry the Travelife Gold certification mark. This benefits both hoteliers and consumers – providing increased marketing opportunities to the hotels and a wider choice of sustainably certified hotels in one place for holiday-makers.

The partnership provide Rainforest Alliance certified hotels with multiple benefits, including increased promotion to the European market and saving money by achieving two separate certifications while only needing to pay for one audit.

Nikki White, Travelife for Hotels & Accommodations, said: “We are excited to announce this partnership, which is the culmination of more than a year of planning, fieldwork and discussion. We are able to collaborate in this way due to the shared approaches and practices of the two organisations. As well as being united in our vision to improve the welfare of local people and the environment by practical action on the ground, our auditing methods and assessment criteria are aligned enough to enable us to confidently display our certification marks side by side.”

Ronald Sanabria, sustainable tourism vice-president from the Rainforest Alliance, said: “This is a collaboration between two like-minded organisations working to common goals, whose standards have been recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.  By partnering with Travelife for Hotels & Accommodations we can offer increased recognition to tourism companies committed to the conservation of natural resources and the wellbeing of host communities and workers. This collaboration demonstrates the truly global nature of both tourism and sustainability. It’s been a fascinating process working together to get to this stage and we look forward to building on this in the future”.

Contact

Emma Lewis, Travelife Senior Relationships Executive – tel: +44(0)20 3693 0164; mob: +44(0)7908 635 549

Gillian Edwards, ABTA Senior Public Relations Manager – tel: +44(0)20 3117 0514

OUT OF HOURS: Contact the Duty Press Officer via pager: +44(0)7659 190 987

E-mail: elewis@travelife.org or press@abta.co.uk

www.travelife.org and www.travelifecollection.com

Editor's notes

About Travelife

Travelife is an international certification system, promoting sustainability within the tourism industry. It helps tour operators, hotels and accommodations to manage and monitor their social and environmental impacts, as well as communicate their achievements to customers. It is an accessible sustainability system which provides members with a practical framework to improve their business.

Travelife provides a range of support to help its members prepare for their independent audit. Hotel and accommodation members whose on-site audit shows they fulfil the requirements of the Travelife sustainability criteria, will achieve a Gold award.  They then qualify to feature on the Travelife Collection website and their award can then be used in promotion by hoteliers and tour operators, alongside other recognitions such as their star rating.

Travelife for Hotels and Accommodations is the only certification system that works in partnership with tour operators, both in the UK and internationally, who use the sustainability system to increase sustainability in the industry and communicate achievements to customers.

For more information about the Travelife for Hotels and Accommodations please visit: www.travelife.org or www.travelifecollection.com

About the Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is a global non-profit that works with people whose livelihood depends on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travellers.  From large multinational corporations to small, community-based cooperatives, businesses and consumers worldwide are involved in the Rainforest Alliance’s effort to bring responsibly produced goods and services to a global marketplace where the demand for sustainability is growing steadily.  For more information please visit www.rainforest-alliance.org