3rd party validation of operational results and standards
Third-party validation refers to the processes within our organisation that involve accredited external controls. Third parties independently confirm and validate certain information or claims we or our partners make. This is essential for building trust in our company and making sure that people can always rely on what we say and claim. It also reduces risks and liability for us, our partners and other stakeholders we interact with. Some of our sustainability certified hotels are currently not 3rd party validated as it is not a requirement. From 2026, all our certified hotels must be third-party validated.
External auditing of all our concept hotels by Travelife
Travelife is a sustainability accreditation scheme, providing guidelines and measurement systems that contribute to improvements in environmental and social responsibility within the travel industry. Companies associated with Travelife must contribute to society by employing locally; using local suppliers; and by marketing local businesses. They must also work against child labour and child sex tourism.
All our concept hotels (Sunwing, Sunprime, OBC) are operated according to the comprehensive sustainability requirements of the Travelife scheme. We have a rolling commitment that all our concept hotels must be Travelife certified. Our work within environment and social responsibility is followed up by the independent auditors from Travelife every two years.
Looking for a certified hotel? Visit our local sites:
During the reporting year, we added a new hotel to our own and operated hotel portfolio – the Sunwing Cala Bona in Mallorca. The hotel operates on a seasonal basis from April to October. It began operating at the beginning of the 2024 summer season but was not Travelife certified at the time.
As a result, although we were 100% compliant with our commitment for large parts of the reporting year, the share of Travelife certified hotels in our own and operated portfolio was only 96% in the summer months. A Travelife audit is planned at the Sunwing Cala Bona in spring of 2025. Therefore, we expect to be back to 100% compliance from the start of the summer season.
Global certification standards
GSTC framework
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council® (GSTC) manages the GSTC Criteria, which are the global standards for sustainable travel and tourism. It also provides international accreditation for sustainable tourism certification bodies. GSTC currently recognises over 30 different sustainability certification programmes.
The GSTC framework is used as a primary basis for sustainability compliance in the hotels that NLTG offers to many of its customers. We also encourage all our hotel partners to increase their sustainability commitments and engage in GSTC accreditation. In 2024, 40% of our charter customers stayed in a hotel with a GSTC-approved sustainability programme accreditation.
Validation from the science based target initiative (SBTi
SBTi is a global organisation that helps companies set ambitious climate targets based on the latest climate science and following international climate reporting standards. NLTG has committed to targets for reducing
our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and will report in accordance with the requirements of the SBTi system from 2025 and onwards. As part of this, we will show accountability through detailed annual progress reports to SBTi.
