Go Vacation Sri Lanka obtains Travelife Certified Sustainability Award

Go Vacation Sri Lanka General Manager Tim Grosse and Go Vacation Sri Lanka HR & Admin Manager and Travelife Sustainability Manager Ruvini Liyanaratne holding the certificate issued by Travelife

The Travelife Certified Sustainability Award was received by Go Vacation Sri Lanka on 24 January.

Travelife is a Certification System, dedicated to achieving sustainable practices within the Tourism Industry. As per the press release issued by Travelife, Go Vacation Sri Lanka obtained this prestigious award as one of the first three Tour Operators (Aitken Spence Travels and Khiri Travel Sri Lanka) in Sri Lanka to be awarded with such certification. 

The Travelife Certified Award is a recognition for long-term efforts and leading position regarding Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of Go Vacation Sri Lanka.

Go Vacation Sri Lanka complies with more than 160 criteria, related to an operators’ Sustainability Management, Office Operations, Working with Suppliers and Customer Communication. The Travelife Standard is covering the ISO 26000 CSR themes, including Environment, Biodiversity, Human Rights and Labour Relations; and is formally recognised as in full compliance with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Standards.

Travelife for Tour Operators Manager Naut Kusters in their press release on this award stated: “I am delighted to see that sustainability in the tour operators sector is obtaining momentum. The award of front runner, Go Vacation Sri Lanka will inspire other companies in Sri Lanka to follow the same path.”

Travelife was launched in Sri Lanka in 2016 in partnership with the Responsible Tourism Partnership Sri Lanka (RTPS). Today, more than 20 Sri Lankan Tour Operators are working towards Certification. 

RTPS Chairman Nishad Wijetunga stated: “Sustainability is key for the future of tourism in Sri Lanka. The Certification of the first three Sri Lankan companies on the basis of the highest international standards is an historic landmark towards our goal to establish Sri Lanka as global leader in Sustainable Tourism.”

Travelife, which has been established with the support of the European Commission, is the leading International Sustainability Certification for the travel sector. More than 35 national travel associations are promoting the scheme to their members including ABTA, The British Travel Association and PATA, the Pacific Asian Travel Association. Since 2012, more than 600 Asian tour operators have been trained. They are now working step-by-step towards more sustainable operations.