The number of hotels subscribing to the Travelife sustainability system has grown by more than half over the past year.
Wholly owned by Abta, Travelife enables hoteliers and accommodation owners to monitor and manage their social and environmental impact.
Latest figures show a 60% rise in involvement with 1,219 hotels audited. There are 522 hotels holding a Travelife Bronze, Silver or Gold award, and more are subscribing to the system.
Properties signed up to the scheme are inspected by an independent trained auditor and depending on their performance may achieve Travelife awards which can then be displayed in the hotel, and in tour operator brochures and websites.
Thirty five operators now use Travelife hotels and display the awards in brochures and websites including Airtours, Cosmos, Hayes & Jarvis, Kuoni, Neilson, Sovereign, Sunvil, Co-operative Travel, Thomas Cook, Tui, and Virgin Holidays. Neilson has subscribed all its hotel and yacht operations to be audited, with a view to working towards Travelife Gold awards.
Travelife is also used by other international operators in Scandinavia, Germany, France, Holland and Canada.
International hotel brand SENTIDO, based in 15 destinations including Egypt, Kenya, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, has also subscribed to the Travelife scheme.
Nikki White, who heads Travelife’s operations, said: “The Travelife awards are a great of way of providing ever-more demanding customers with the information they require to make more responsible holiday choices, and so we are encouraged by the steady uptake of the Travelife sustainability system.
“Sustainability has risen up the agenda for major international tour operators as they recognise its importance to the long-term health of the industry, so there is still a huge opportunity for Travelife to grow further.”