Gold, all the way for Jetwing

Ho Ve Pra Ga

Travelife (www.travelife.org), the international certification scheme developed by the ‘travel industry’ for the travel industry announced recently that they have awarded 7 Travelife Gold Awards to hotels belonging to the Jetwing family of properties, namely: Jetwing Blue, Jetwing Beach, Jetwing Vil Uyana, Jetwing Ayurveda Pavilions, Jetwing Sea, Jetwing Lighthouse, and Jetwing St. Andrew’s.

At present, Jetwing possesses the most properties located in Sri Lanka on the Travelife Collection – 7 out of the 8 listed.

Set up in 2007 by leaders in the travel and tourism industry including TUI Travel, Thomas Cook, Kuoni, Virgin Holidays and others, the Travelife Sustainability System is a way of managing the environment, people, and local community issues of hotels and accommodation. The addition of a hotel that buys goods from community businesses support the local economy, keeping citizens happy – creating positive impact. Also, goods bought locally need not travel far to reach a hotel, which reduces carbon emissions thus benefiting the environment. To encourage others and to reward achievement, Travelife has an award system of Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

Achieving a Travelife award depends on an independent, third party auditor who will assess the property against the substantial and comprehensive requirements of the Travelife sustainability criteria. In short, a Bronze Award hotel will show an active environmental policy, as well as treating their staff fairly and with respect; a Silver Award hotel buys local produce for their restaurants and give their staff responsibility for green issues; a Gold Award hotel will do all of the above, as well as be an industry leader, improve the living standards of the local community, along with publishing regular reports on their sustainable actions.