Μετά την ολοκλήρωση σύνταξης και την κατάθεση του σχετικού φακέλου, υπό την καθοδήγηση του πιστοποιημένου συμβούλου του Travelife στην Κρήτη κ. Βασίλη Ζησιμόπουλου, η TUI Ηρακλείου πέρασε με επιτυχία την διαδικασία – έλεγχο πιστοποίησης από το Travelife στις αρχές του 2015 και στις 14/01/2015 της απονεμήθηκε ο αντίστοιχος τίτλος, TravelifeCertified.
Η παρακάτω αναδημοσίευση είναι από την σελίδα του Travelife στο Facebook.
“At the Dutch tourism trade fair ‘Vakantiebeurs’, today Mrs. Helena Rey, UNEP Tourism Programme Officer, awarded two companies with the TravelifeCertificate for Tour operators & Travel agents.
The Travelife Certificate for tour operators and travel agents was awarded to Dutch tour operator All for Nature Travel, and to Greek DestinationManagement Company TUI Hellas in Heraklion (Crete).
TUI Hellas in Heraklion is the first Greek travel company to be awarded with Travelife certification in recognition of its long-term efforts and frontrunnerposition regarding sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Mr Spyros Kritikos, destination manager TUI Hellas Crete: “Responsible Leadership isone of TUI Group’s core values. It underlines our commitment to sustainable development and to making a positive impact on society. We at TUI Hellashere in Greece consider it both our duty and our pleasure to work on promoting the principles of sustainability in Greek tourism. We are really proud thatour branch office in Crete is the first to be awarded with the Travelife certificate in Greece and we would like to express our appreciation to the experts ofTravelife for their support to this achievement. TUI Hellas remains at the forefront of these efforts towards a future tourism development model based onthe respect to local nature, culture and society, and we do hope that more businesses will follow.”
Dutch tour operator All for Nature Travel has been founded to contribute towards nature conservation and iconic wildlife by means of travel. Mrs. Annemiekvan Gijn, founder All for Nature Travel: “we are very proud to receive the Travelife Certification for Tour Operators. Sustainability has been key from thebeginning, and 30% of our gross margin is invested back into nature conservation. For the traveller this means a beautiful wildlife experience with theknowledge that the journey contributes to nature & wildlife protection.”
In Greece both trade associations HATTA and SETE collaborate with Travelife on the promotion of sustainable management among their members. MrsAngeliki Rossolatou, sustainability coordinator for HATTA, commented: “this certification can inspire all Greek tourism businesses to work in a moresustainable way and fully value -and help their clients to fully appreciate- our country’s cultural, natural and social treasures”.
Mr. Alexander Lamnidis, General Manager of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) stated: the Travelife certified achievement proves that travelcompanies in Greece are on the right track concerning their sustainability strategies and compliance. We hope that more companies will soon reach thisspecific stage and improve the country’s status overall.
The Travelife criteria for tour operators & travel agents contain all relevant topics for Corporate Social Responsibility, also because sustainable tourism isnothing other than enjoying a good holiday with respect for the environment, people, nature and culture. Mrs Silvia Hendriks, Travelife Account managerEurope: “With EU support, trade associations all over Europe have committed themselves to Travelife, which supports more sustainability throughout thesector. The certification of TUI Hellas Heraklion is a significant landmark in Greek tourism”.
