Connaissance De Ceylan receives Travelife Partner award at WTM

Connaissance De Ceylan and its bespoke DMC arm, Travel Design by CDC, was awarded the ‘Travelife Partner’ recognition at the World Travel Market in London on 5 November. 

This award is a recognition gained for long-term efforts towards sustainability and corporate social responsibility, including labour conditions and human rights.  Connaissance de Ceylan is only the 6th company in Sri Lanka to receive this recognition.

Travelife is a certification system dedicated to achieving sustainable practices specifically within the tourism industry. It provides companies with realistic sustainability goals, tools and solutions to implement positive change within their businesses and supply chains. Travelife is managed by ABTA (The Travel Association, UK) and ECEAT Projects, a not-for-profit organisation in the Netherlands. 

Both Connaissance de Ceylan and Travel Design by CDC have long believed in embodying sustainable and ethical business practices and aimed at working with hotels and experience providers that share similar values. Housing projects for tsunami victims, construction and free maintenance of three pre-schools, three computer/language centres, free health inspections and spectacle distribution camps are just some examples of CSR initiatives undertaken by the Connaissance group. Connaissance De Ceylan and Travel Design by CDC complied with more than 160 Travelife criteria, related to tour operators’ office management, product range, international business partners and customer information in order to receive this award.

Travelife for Tour Operators manager Naut Kusters said, “I am delighted to see that sustainability in the tour operators’ sector is obtaining momentum. The award of the frontrunner, Connaissance De Ceylan, will inspire other companies in Sri Lanka to follow the same path.”