Impartiality is the cornerstone of any independently verified certification. It means that auditors, and our own staff, treat everyone fairly and that they are free from external pressures that could unfairly influence their judgement and decision making.

For this reason, we do not permit auditors to audit a property where there has been any kind of professional or personal relationship that could influence their compliance judgements, either positively or negatively. We refer to these as conflicts of interest. We also do not permit our own staff to be involved in certification decisions when any such conflict of interest could arise.

Acting with impartiality also means that the auditor, and our own staff, are aware of how their own personal experiences and personal biases could affect their ability to make independent, reasoned, consistent and fair judgements.

To address this, we educate our staff and our auditors about discrimination and unconscious bias, so they know to be cautious about ensuring that their own personal values, beliefs and experiences may unfairly affect their judgements and decision making.

In terms of auditing, consistency relates to applying the same standards to each property being audited when it comes to making judgements and decisions about whether the auditor believes a property is compliant or non-compliant with a specific Travelife certification requirement.

Travelife recognises that this consistency is essential to the properties we audit, as well as to other stakeholders such as travellers and travel companies that rely on Travelife Certification as an indication that a property is operating sustainably.

Travelife also recognises that each audit is unique according to the type of property being audited and its location. We also understand that auditors, and our own staff, are human beings who may change the way they view things over time, or according to external or internal factors that may be affecting them.

Despite this, Travelife are committed to striving for consistency and fairness across all audits, compliance judgements and certification decisions, and expects the same commitment from our auditors.

This relates to ensuring that each property we audit is fully and fairly assessed for compliance with our certification requirements. We expect our auditors to understand each of the Travelife Certification Requirements and to know how to assess a property’s compliance with them.

We have several measures in place to ensure our auditing processes are robust:

• We have extensive initial and ongoing training and quality control programmes to ensure auditors have the necessary competencies (see the relevant sections below) to conduct audits against the Travelife Certification Requirements.
• We have processes in place to ensure that only auditors with the right competencies are sent to audits that may be unusual, complex or involve higher risks. Where this is not possible, we have additional support and oversight mechanisms in place.
• We ensure that our auditors have access to resources that help them to understand our certification requirements and how to make compliance judgments for each one of them.
• We have information available to help auditors prepare for audits at specific hotels and in specific locations. For example, auditors have access to property profiles that include details about facilities etc. Auditors also have access to country fact pages that help them research things like local legislative conditions as well as known environmental, human rights and labour risks in the destination.
• We strive to provide a supportive environment where an auditor is not afraid to tell us that they do not have the skills or experience to assess compliance in a specific area and have processes in place to deal with any such situations.

It is essential that all our audits are carried out completely, professionally and consistently, and that auditors have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience. For this reason, we have an auditor quality control programme in place that includes the following:

• Before we recruit auditors, we ensure they possess some basic skills, knowledge and experience that you can read more about at our auditor recruitment webpage (https://travelifeauditors.com/auditor-recruitment/).
• Auditors must complete an online and in-person training programme, pass written assessments and observe a more experienced auditor during a live audit before they begin their probationary period.
• During the probationary period, some of their audits are observed by a more experienced auditor before they can audit alone. They must then complete 5 audits, each of which is closely examined in terms of their audit report and feedback from the properties they audit.
• Upon successful completion of the probationary period, auditors must complete annual online refresher training courses, promptly read any advisories we send about issues or changes and each property is invited to give feedback about their auditor after the audit.
• Each year, Travelife completes an auditor competency evaluation for every auditor that looks at feedback from our own staff, feedback from hotels, completion of all training they were required to undertake and reading any advisories we issued. The outcome of these evaluations determines if the auditor can continue auditing normally or if additional action needs to be taken, such as training or coaching the auditor.
• Every 2 years each auditor must pass a practical competency evaluation where they are observed during a live inspection audit by another more experienced auditor or by an experienced Travelife certifications specialist. If issues are identified, further action is taken such as training or coaching the auditor.
• Every single audit report produced by an auditor undergoes a quality check by the Travelife certifications team. They check that the right level of detail has been provided, that comments are clear, that audits are being carried out consistently and that we agree with the auditor’s compliance judgements. Auditors are given immediate feedback if something is not right with the report, along with time to make corrections and improvements. Each year the certifications team provides an overall assessment of the quality of each individual auditor’s audit reports as part of the annual auditor competency evaluation.

Travelife understands that our certification can only be credible if we are being proactive about addressing any instances of bribery or corruption. We have several mechanisms in place to prevent this that we communicate to accommodation providers, auditors and Travelife staff.

Auditors are given initial training about how to prevent and report instances of bribery and corruption, and this training is repeated every few years.

Travelife has several mechanisms in place to support auditors with preventing and reporting suspected instances of bribery and corruption, including processes for handling any such instances.

Por favor haga clic aquí to view our anti-bribery and corruption policies.

The Code is centered on a set of behaviours, attitudes and principles that are based on integrity, honesty, fairness, diplomacy and professionalism.

When auditors first begin working with Travelife, they must complete a course about the Code which explains our expectations and how to apply them during their auditing work. Auditors must repeat this training every few years.

The Code is also provided to auditors on their own dedicated website where their other auditing tools and resources are housed. It is also referenced in the agreement they signed with Travelife.

The Code is also considered during the auditor recruitment process and auditor competency evaluations.