Travelife principles

Travelife has been designed according to the following principles:

• Transparent, comparable and accountable: one uniform system for travel companies consisting of one common set of standards and implementation process, ensuring consistency and comparability of audits and allowing sector wide benchmarking.
• Sector wide : applicable to both small and (very) large companies and covering all types of travel companies including inbound, outbound and retail travel companies.
• International: global availability of online tools in multiple languages.
• Development oriented: a step by step  approach to help companies and their suppliers implement the Travelife standard gradually.
• Knowledge-based: Travelife integrates learning to develop knowledge and skills for travel companies, accommodations, activity and excursion providers and consumers.
• Supply chain oriented: taking into account the  supply chain of travel companies including transport, accommodation and excursion providers.  Offering easy tools to evaluate, manage, share and communicate supplier performances.
• Efficient:  a common database of suppliers creates efficiencies and avoids duplicating audits. Data are shared between participants.
• Unified communication: sector-wide logos and messages for communication in travel companies’ promotion materials.
• Realistic and practical: criteria and actions based on what travel companies (can) do. 
• Triple bottom line: integration of the full set of sustainability issues: environmental, social and economic.
• State of the art: integration of major global standards and guidelines: EMAS III (including tourism sector reference document), ISO 14001, ISO 26001, Global Reporting Initiative, OECD standard for multinational companies and the Global Sustainable Tourism Standard (GSTC). 
• Collaborative: Travelife enables involvement of relevant stakeholders  and destinations. The standards are supported by and developed with businesses, NGOs and  governments.
• Not for profit: Travelife runs on a cost basis, all income will be used to manage and improve the system and tools.