Abta’s Travelife scheme covers 163 issues based on inspections of properties. They include how sustainability is included in everyday management, how energy is used and harmful substances dealt with, recycling, labour conditions and human rights. Successful applicants are certified for two years, with small properties charged €800 for the process and larger units €1,400.

Travelife commercial director Soren Stober said membership had now reached 1,500 and included a category for agents and operators.

He said many hotels already had ISO certifications for areas such as energy standards and safety, but that Travelife gave them a chance to improve on this as its scope was broader.

Stober said visits included speaking to lower-paid staff, examining their accommodation and “understanding how they are treated”. He added: “It’s very important that it’s not the general manager telling our auditors which employees they want us to speak to.”

Stober presented Sri Lanka as an example, where Travelife works with 23 properties. Staff accommodation was “acceptable” in most cases, he said, but there were “a lot of dorms” and many had no access to hot water.

How service charges were split was another issue, with some junior staff receiving only 25% or nothing at all, while heads of departments were allowed to keep 100%.

“Others only had 10% female staff. That tells you something about access to jobs and discrimination.”

Investigations such as these are vital, he said, because “no complaints were made by employees”. Other more everyday issues such as water quality had been identified in some properties, Stober added.

Sri Lanka now has 13 hotels that have reached Travelife Gold certification. The scheme means that operators “do not need to do their own audit”, Stober said. “The certificate gives you the assurance. You can use that to talk to holidaymakers.”