Audit preparation
Important! This site provides checklists and support materials for audits before 1st January 2024. If you need support for audits taking place from 1st January 2024 onwards, please click here to visit the new customer support website.
Please select your property or group size below so you can view the correct resources, self-assessments and checklists for your property type.
Individual properties with a maximum occupancy of 1 to 30 guests per night
Individual properties with a maximum occupancy of 31 to 160 guests per night OR Hotel groups with a combined maximum occupancy of 31 to 160 guests per night
Individual properties with a maximum occupancy of 161+ guests per night OR hotel groups with a combined maximum occupancy of 161+ guests per night
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The 6 step certification plan
Whether this is your first audit or you are an experienced Travelife Member, we recommend you follow our 6 Step Certification Plan so that you are as prepared as possible for your audit and have the best chance of achieving Travelife Gold Certification.
Appoint a Travelife Leader: Your entire certification process will run a lot smoother if one person takes responsibility for it. It is also a Travelife requirement that your business identifies an individual to take this on, and that they have enough time to complete their work. In many hotels the General Manager or their assistant takes on this role, but it can be any person who has a broad understanding of your operations, has good relationships with department heads and is trusted by senior management to take on the responsibility.
Involve other staff: We recommend that you form a team of relevant staff to help you through the process. You will be spending time looking at things like laws, regulations and business documentation and we find that it is mostly the general manager (or their assistant), human resources and maintenance managers involved at this stage, although you may need to consult with other department heads. You will also be reviewing your current systems and processes for energy, water, waste, chemicals and procurement. We find that this primarily involves maintenance, food & beverage and housekeeping. This team should be briefed on what is happening and should identify what areas of the Travelife Standard they will need to help with.
Download the correct Travelife self-assessment: We have produced optional self-assessment documents to help you establish what improvements you need to make before your audit. There are different versions based on the size of your property, and whether or not this is your first Travelife audit. The buttons above will take you to the correct page to find the right self-assessment for your property. On the first page of the document you will find useful information about how to complete the self-assessment and the types of evidence auditors will be looking for. You can find these from the Audit Preparation page and they are available in English, Greek, Spanish and Turkish.
Download the correct Travelife auditor checklist: This is the same checklist that auditors and Travelife will use to assess if you have complied with our certification requirements, so we strongly recommend you download and review this. You can find these from the Audit Preparation page and they are available in English, Greek, Spanish and Turkish.
Use the self-assessment to create an improvement plan: Within the self-assessment you will find areas to write down the things you need to do in order to comply with our certification requirements. Large properties with multiple staff working on Travelife certification or those that have a lot of improvements to make, may find it easier to use the self-assessment to create a more detailed improvement plan that includes information about deadlines and who will be responsible for each area.
Implement your plan and monitor your progress: Here are some things we recommend to help you implement and monitor your improvement plan:
Schedule time to work on your plan: The Travelife Leader should set aside regular time to work on improvements. Much of this work will rely on other people or departments, so plan meetings with the right staff ahead of time so they can set aside time to work on this too.
Keep senior management informed: If you are not part of the senior management team then make sure you keep relevant senior managers informed. They might need to authorise purchases, sign off policies or ask other staff to carry out tasks, so it is important that they are supporting this work.
Regular meetings: Add Travelife to the agenda of department head meetings so you can discuss the progress each department is making and plan upcoming work.
Seek general staff support: See if you can add the topic to a general staff briefing (or to department briefings) so that all staff at your property understand what is happening and how to support your company's sustainability work.
Click here to visit our audit scheduling page that contains information about when we recommend you should have your audit, an audit request form and answers to some common questions we receive about scheduling audits.
Decide who will spend the day with the auditor: There must be at least one person with the auditor all day who has the authority to access all documentation and all areas of the property, or who can at least arrange this access with the right person.
Prepare to show evidence of compliance with the Travelife requirements: The auditor will need to see evidence that you have complied with Travelife’s certification requirements. This means they will ask to see a variety of documents, records, to fully inspect the property and to speak with staff. You should ensure you know how to access this evidence on audit day and it is a good idea make notes on your self-assessment document about where this evidence can be found, along with any special access or permissions you need to arrange.
Make sure you can access Evergreen: Evergreen is the Travelife certification system and you will need to be able to login to this in order to access your audit reports and to work on any post-audit improvements. Click here to login to Evergreen and email info@travelife.org if you need us to send you a registration invitation. Click here for more information about Evergreen and how to use it.
Download and complete our audit day checklist: We have produced a checklist to remind you of the things that need to be done in the week leading up to your audit. Click these links to download the in English or Spanish.
After your audit, the auditor will complete an audit report that is sent to Travelife where it is quality checked. During peak periods this can take up to 28-days. When the quality check is finished, you will be emailed with one of the following results:
You are certified: This means we found evidence that you complied with all of the requirements of the Travelife Standard.
You need to make some improvements: This means that you did not comply with between 1 and 40 of the requirements in the Travelife Standard. You will be able to login to Evergreen to view your improvement report that will explain what you what you need to do meet the requirements you did not comply with. You will need to start working on your improvements within 1-month and ensure they are completed in 6-months, otherwise we will assume you do not intend to continue and fail your audit. You should use Evergreen to submit evidence and to exchange messages with the Travelife certifications team.
You did not meet more than 40 of the Travelife Requirements: If you have 40 or more improvements to make then you will need to pay to have another audit. You will be able to access your audit report in Evergreen that shows the requirements you did not comply with.
Complaints and appeals about the audit and certification process: You have the right to make an appeal if you disagree with a decision that has been made about whether or not you have complied with the Travelife Standard. You also have the right to complain if you feel that you experienced inappropriate or unprofessional behaviour from a Travelife Auditor or staff member at any time during your audit and certification process. Click here to view our policy and procedures for complaints and appeals.
Whether you are a new Member or renewing your Certification, once you achieve Travelife Gold you will receive an email from our Member Support Team. We will tell you about the benefits and resources you are able to use to promote your sustainability certification. These include:
Travelife certificate and logo: These will be available for you to download in Evergreen. Please remember that it is a Travelife requirement that this certificate is displayed in a public area of your property.
Travelife Collection: You will be sent instructions about how to upload and manage your listing on the Travelife Collection. This is a website where travellers and travel agents can search for Travelife Certified properties. You can use your listing to communicate your sustainability achievements to existing and potential guests.
Travelife Gold Plaque: Due to the environmental cost of producing, shipping and disposing of Travelife Gold Plaques, we are discouraging their use. Members who receive Gold Certification from 1st April 2019 may order them from us at an additional cost as part of the Gold Pack (see below).
The Gold Pack: This is available on request for Members who receive their Gold Certification from 1st April 2019. It includes a specially printed and gold embossed certificate, a window/door decal sticker and a plaque. The cost is €75 including shipping and in order to offset some of the environmental impacts of producing and shipping the pack, we will donate €5 for every pack purchased to WasteAid, a UK charity dedicated to waste issues in developing countries that lack good waste infrastructure. ChainConnect Members and those that have had a Certification for 6 consecutive years (without it ever lapsing during that period) can request a Gold Pack free of charge from info@travelife.org. Click here for more information about the Gold Pack and for the online order form.