Internal management
Sustainability Coordinator with budget authority. Quarterly leadership review. Public statement, complaints log, and code of conduct visible on this page.
We are Travelife Partner certified — externally audited every 24 months against 163 sustainability criteria. This page is the long version. Our coordinator, our active plan, the specific numbers we report, the partners we fund, and the documents you can download. Names included.
Travelife requires a designated Sustainability Coordinator with real authority. Here’s ours — what she does, what she’s paid to defend, and how to reach her directly.
Sustainability Coordinator
Reports directly to the founder, Katerina
MSc Sustainable Tourism (University of the Aegean, 2019). Previously coordinated coastal conservation projects with Archelon and the Mediterranean SOS Network. With Explore Greece since 2022.
Twelve commitments, one row each. Pillar tells you which Travelife topic area it serves. KPI is what we measure and report — not what we wish were true. Reviewed quarterly; updated annually.
Filtered water dispensers at every meeting point and accommodation we own/lease. Reusable stainless bottles issued to every guest.
Baseline: 2023 (8.4 kg CO₂e per guest-day, transport + lodging). Switching to electric/PHEV vehicles, smaller-group tour design, partner accommodation audits.
Family-run guesthouses, village tavernas, the Kalamata olive co-operative, regional transport operators. Tracked at line-item level.
Includes contracted seasonal guides. Reviewed annually against EFKA reference rates.
Archelon (sea turtle rescue · Messinian coast). WWF Greece (Gialova Lagoon). Reforestation Mt Taygetos (Kalamata Forest Service).
Pre-trip pack + 10-minute briefing on day 1. Acknowledged in writing as part of booking.
Covers waste, water, energy, labour, animal welfare, child protection. Suppliers below 60% are coached for one year, then dropped.
Includes guides on freelance contracts. Curriculum covers Travelife topics, animal welfare (ABTA standards), and child safeguarding.
Covers prior calendar year. Includes failures and dropped targets — not just successes.
Aligned with The Code (ECPAT). Mandatory clause in all written supplier contracts.
Estimated kg CO₂e per guest, methodology disclosed. To be developed with myclimate methodology.
Mt Taygetos summit, Lousios Gorge, Polylimnio waterfalls, Diros Caves, Foloi oak forest, Cape Tainaron.
The full plan with quarterly review notes is in AP·2026 — downloadable below.
Travelife organises sustainability into nine pillars. Below is what we commit to under each — the plain-language version of our policy. The full policy document is downloadable below as SP·2025.
Sustainability Coordinator with budget authority. Quarterly leadership review. Public statement, complaints log, and code of conduct visible on this page.
A 24-point sustainability checklist scores every accommodation, transport and activity supplier. Below 60% triggers a coaching year; below 60% in year two triggers replacement.
Pre-trip Leave-No-Trace briefing. Honest carbon estimates. Post-trip survey with a sustainability section, results published yearly.
Group caps in protected areas. Local guide mandates. We refuse to operate in over-trafficked sites at peak windows (no Acropolis tours 10:30–14:30, July–August).
Single-use plastic eliminated. Animal welfare clause (ABTA standards) in supplier contracts. No marine wildlife touching, feeding, or chase. No single-use souvenirs from protected species.
80% supplier-spend target inside operating regions. Three named conservation partners funded yearly. We do not buy out village tavernas at peak harvest week.
The Code (ECPAT) signed by every contracted supplier. Mandatory child-safeguarding training for guides. Public grievance channel, 14-day response window.
Guide pay at least 30% above the Greek hospitality reference rate. EFKA-registered contracts only — no envelope payments. Two paid training days per staff per year.
Wilderness First Responder on every multi-day trip. Risk assessments per route, reviewed every 12 months. Insurance, signed waivers, and a 24/7 emergency line.
From the 2024 report and the year-in-progress dashboard. The full methodology is documented in the Sustainability Report SR·2024.
Four named partners, named contributions. Cash and staff-days, audited against receipts.
Sea-turtle rescue & monitoring · Kyparissia bay & Messinian coast
We co-fund the seasonal monitoring station and its volunteers. Our guides re-route any kayak day that lands within 200m of an active nesting beach.
2025 contributionCash (€7,200 in 2025) + 11 staff-days of beach-cleaning and signage repair
Wetland conservation · Western Messinia
A Natura 2000 site that we visit on three of our itineraries. We pay a per-guest entry fee directly to the WWF education programme; their team leads the bird-watching.
2025 contribution€4,800 channelled in 2025 + 100% of guests opted-in for the programme
Native-species replanting · Greater Kalamata · Forest Service
After the 2007 fires, the foothills are still recovering. We organise an autumn planting day with the Kalamata Forest Service and our regular suppliers — open to clients on request.
2025 contribution740 olive and Aleppo pine saplings (2025). Survival rate, year 2: 82%.
Smallholder economic resilience · Outer Mani peninsula
Our long lunches at olive harvest are paid at full retail co-operative rate. We do not negotiate pricing; we just commit dates a year ahead so the families can plan.
2025 contribution~€21,000 in cooperative trade in 2025 across 9 families
The non-negotiable list
Signed at every contract renewal
In every pre-trip pack
Every March we publish the prior year’s Sustainability Report — successes, dropped targets, complaints summary, financials behind our partner contributions. The Travelife audit happens every 24 months and is independent of our reporting cycle.
If something on a trip — environmental, labour, child safeguarding, community, animal welfare — felt wrong, please tell us. The coordinator handles every report personally and confidentially. You can be a guest, a supplier, a local resident, or staff.
All public. All current. Audit certificate available on request for verification — email the coordinator.
Public statement · v3.1, signed Jan 2025
The live plan, with KPIs and target dates
Year in review, including failed targets
For staff, suppliers, and travellers
Issued Sept 2024 · valid through Sept 2026
The 24-point form we use on every site visit
Mostly from procurement teams, MICE buyers, journalists, and university travel offices.
Travelife is the leading EU-recognised certification scheme for tour operators. The Partner stage is independently audited against 163 criteria across 9 topic areas — internal management, suppliers, customers, destinations, environment, community, human rights, labour, and health & safety. We renew every 24 months. The next stage, Travelife Certified (the highest), is a goal we are working toward for the 2027 cycle.
Elenianswers personally. The most common asks: a populated supplier checklist for a corporate framework, a sustainability brief for a school programme, a journalist’s fact-check, or a confidential concern about something seen on a trip.