FTO to launch environmental awards scheme for travel partners

The Federation of Tour Operators is launching an award scheme for hotels and other tourist businesses partners who meet high standards of environmental management.

Called the Travelife awards, partners will be presented with Bronze, Silver and Gold Award logos which they can display in their brochures and on their websites.

The scheme has been developed by the FTO and its partners with support of EU funding. It is designed to help consumers make choices based on what a travel supplier is doing to combat global warming, climate change and poverty.

Suppliers who work with the scheme must submit to independent auditing of their performance across a wide range of sustainability criteria, including environmental management, employment issues and involvement with local communities.

Travelife awards are to appear first in brochures and websites of British tour operators, and the Dutch, German, Belgian and Italian markets are also expected to feature them soon after.

Rachel McCaffery, corporate responsibility manager for Virgin Holidays, which has helped develop and implement the awards, said: “We believe our customers are increasingly interested in knowing more about the sustainability of their holidays, and we are pleased to be able to give them this information.

“The feedback we have had from suppliers has also been very positive and it is great to be able to reward those hotels that are really taking the initiative in this area. The awards will be featuring in the first edition of our Caribbean 2008 brochure (launching April 26) and we are planning to roll them out across our other destinations over the coming year.”

Jane Ashton, head of CSR at First Choice, adds: “At First Choice we are convinced of the strong link between the long-term success of our industry and the impacts of our holidays on the environment and on communities. As a result, we have worked with the Travelife standards to audit hotels representing 50% of our capacity and will very shortly be publishing the results in our brochures.”

The awards are a further development of the Travelife Sustainability Store service (www.its4travel.com), which over the coming months will give businesses the chance to link up with providers of specific advice and solutions to help them improve their sustainability performance.

By Bev Fearis