Destination Asia Achieves Travelife Partner Status for Sustainability Efforts
Following long term efforts to steer operations along a more sustainable path and improve social and environmental impacts, Destination Asia Thailand has been awarded Partner status by Travelife.
Travelife, which was originally established with the support of European travel associations, is the leading international sustainability certification in the travel sector. More than 35 national travel associations are promoting the scheme to their members including associations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
To achieve partner level the company had to comply with more than 200 criteria, related to operators’ office management, product range, supply chain and customer information. The Travelife standard covers ISO 26000 Corporate Social Responsibility themes, including environment, biodiversity, human rights, and labor relations, and is formally recognized as in full compliance with the UN- supported Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.
Since becoming an engaged Travelife member, Destination Asia has joined with other DMCs as members of the ‘Elephant Camp Welfare and Sustainability Standard and Assessment’ initiative. At present no widely accepted set of criteria and evaluation system is present for Elephant camps in Asia. As a key member of the group, Destination Asia will help develop common standards and tools in order to jointly evaluate suppliers and ultimately, motivate camps towards improved animal welfare and sustainability standards.