Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and Travelife for Tour Operators & Travel Agents (Travelife) are pleased to announce they have entered into a global strategic partnership to combine ATTA’s expertise in the adventure tourism market, specifically focused on safety, risk, and guide standards, with Travelife’s proven sustainability solutions.
Travelife for Tour Operators General Manager Naut Kusters said, “The logical nexus of adventure and tour operators is sustainability, where we all work together to safeguard tourism resources in a standardized fashion. In particular, ATTA's European members can benefit from an EU-funded project and receive free intensive support services in working towards more sustainability and certification.”
As part of the agreement, ATTA Business and Professional members worldwide will have free access to Travelife’s online trainings, live webinars, and workshops, as well as Travelife’s proprietary management, action planning, guidance, and reporting tool. European small-medium enterprises will further have the opportunity to apply for SUSTOUR, a European COSME-financed project that aims to foster the capacities of European tour operators with regards to sustainable management and performance. Europe-based ATTA members will receive additional free support in their certification process by participating in this program. Likewise, Travelife members can enjoy a discounted ATTA membership, as well as access to a wider, adventure-based network.
“The foundations of adventure travel are rooted in sustainability,” said ATTA CEO Mr. Shannon Stowell. “With this partnership now official, ATTA is looking forward to tangible results of holistic sustainability uptake among our membership and the industry at large. This will be an enormous opportunity for both our members and the Association; our members will have greater access and support to achieve sustainability certification and impact the adventure tourism supply chain. ATTA is likewise eager to work with Travelife to build upon the foundation of existing and trusted standards in travel and tourism. Ours will be a natural partnership that will facilitate rising tides.”
The travel and tourism industry at large can also look forward to greater consolidated efforts on the topics of safety standards and risk management, adventure guide training, climate action, and furthering sustainability within the adventure tourism sector.
To launch the partnership, Travelife will lead an informational webinar on the topic of sustainability certification for tour operators, and introduce the Travelife program to ATTA members. The webinar will be held on 6 April 2022. Tour operators interested in learning more can register here. Additional future joint activities will be announced in the coming months.
About Travelife (www.travelife.info)
Travelife is a sustainability scheme dedicated to achieving sustainable practices within the tourism industry. It provides companies with realistic sustainability goals, tools and solutions to implement positive change within their businesses and supply chains. The scheme has two sections: Travelife for Hotels is managed by ABTA – The UK Travel Association. Travelife for Tour operators is managed by ECEAT- a not-for-profit organisation based in The Netherlands.
Travelife for Tour Operators provides online training and practical tools for sustainability management and certification. The training and online tools are suitable for tour operators of any size and cover all management aspects of the travel company business including office operations, the supply chain, destinations and consumers. When fulfilling a set of basic sustainability standards, the company is awarded the “Travelife Partner” status, an intermediate step towards certification. Upon complying with the more elaborate Travelife Certified standard (based on an independent onsite audit), the company can obtain the “Travelife Certified” status. The Travelife standard is based upon the full Corporate Social Responsibility themes, including labour conditions, human rights, environment, biodiversity and fair business practices. The management requirements are compatible with EMAS and ISO 14001. The scheme is supported by more than 35 national travel associations to further its implementation among members. Please visit www.travelife.info to learn more.