The ChainConnect certification process
Step 1
Initial meeting with Travelife
Your Travelife Account Manager will set up a meeting with the relevant staff from your headquarters. This is to help us understand your current sustainability initiatives and goals. You will be given the ChainConnect Head Office Checklist that explains what documents and records you need to prepare. At this stage you will also assess each of the properties that have joined Travelife in order to prioritise when they will start their certification process.
Step 2
Head office document check
This will take place at your corporate headquarters with your Travelife Account Manager and a Certifications Specialist or Approved Auditor. They will review the records, policies, procedures and reports you have prepared relating to legislation, business permits, labour, human rights, environmental management, community and guest engagement.
Step 3
Document check report
This will be prepared by your Travelife Certifications Specialist or Approved Auditor. It will explain any improvements that need to be made to your sustainability documentation before moving to the next stage.
Step 4
Prepare individual properties for their audits
This involves the head office working with each property to assess themselves against the Travelife Checklist, then implementing a plan to make any required improvements before their audit takes place. Both the head office and staff at the individual properties will have full access to the resources, templates and examples in the Member Zone. Each property will follow the usual process for Travelife audits that you can click here to view. If you have coordinated the preparation for these centrally and have made our recommended improvements on your corporate documents, you can expect each property to have a more straight forward and successful certification experience.
Step 5
The audits
These will be scheduled when you let us know each property is ready. Wherever feasible, this will all be undertaken by the same Approved Auditor and we will ensure they are familiar with the outcomes of your Document Check. Depending on the size of the property, an audit can take up to six hours to complete, sometimes longer for very complex locations. The auditor will need access to all areas, will choose some staff to interview and will need to see a selection of unoccupied guest rooms. The Member Zone contains more information on what to expect from your audit and how to prepare for it.
Step 6
Audit reports and improvements
The Auditor will complete a detailed Audit Report that is sent to Travelife for a series of quality checks before being made available for you to review. This process can take up to 28-days. The Travelife Certifications Team will advise you about any further improvements each property needs to make. You will need to start working with each property on their improvements within one month and finish them within six months. If your Audit Report identifies more than 40 areas needing improvement or you do not complete your improvements on time, you will need to schedule a new audit at your own cost. Once all the improvements are completed the property will receive their Travelife Gold Certification.