According to a new study titled “The State of Sustainability in the Global Business Travel Sector,” much of the global business travel industry has already made sustainable business travel a priority with a focus on reducing emissions and its environmental footprint. But the industry and external stakeholders, such as policymakers, recognize more needs to be done. The report was released by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
The 21-page GBTA benchmarking study provides in-depth data and commentary from both global business travel buyers and travel suppliers, as well as external policy makers, think tanks and NGOs to reveal top priorities and opportunities as the business travel industry accelerates its journey toward a more sustainable future.
The study revealed that almost nine in 10 industry respondents (89 percent) collectively said sustainability is already a priority for their company. Regardless of region, travel buyer and supplier respondents said better protecting the planet is a priority: Asia Pacific (99 percent), Europe (97 percent), Latin America (91 percent) and North America (84 percent). Only 14 percent said the industry is currently well advanced on sustainability—but improvements are being made as 76 percent of travel buyers have already incorporated or are planning to incorporate sustainability objectives in their travel policies.
A majority (80 percent) of the global business travel industry reported having a sustainability team and/or a sustainability program in place and were already measuring (55 percent) and reporting (56 percent) on environmental impact of their business travel activities. Interestingly, 88 percent of the global business travel sector viewed addressing climate change as the number one priority area for action. Again, 88 percent of the industry sector ranked reducing business travel emissions as the top priority for the next two to three years.
For industry professionals, among the biggest barriers to more sustainable business travel management practices were higher costs (82 percent) and lack of transparent information and data (63 percent). The key enablers include fostering change in industry culture (63 percent) and improved access to sustainability data (63 percent). Industry respondents said the most impactful actions for sustainable business travel programs were prioritizing energy efficient accommodations (81 percent), suppliers with sustainability certification (78 percent), and flights with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) (73 percent).
When it comes to sustainable travel policies, the main divergence between travel buyers and suppliers (as well as among regions) relates to multimodality and the frequency of travel. Seven in 10 buyers (73 percent) support encouraging or mandating taking fewer trips, while 60 percent of suppliers do not encourage this blanket reduction in travel. Regionally, Europeans are much more likely to support that less travel be encouraged or even mandated and six times more likely than North Americans to support mandating multimodal travel options.
External stakeholders view higher costs (58 percent) as the top barrier to the sector’s sustainability and almost two-thirds (62 percent) rank lack of interest from some industry stakeholders. Interestingly, longer travel times are more likely seen as a barrier by those outside the industry (41 percent) than by industry respondents (32 percent). A vast majority (96 percent) of external respondents saw prioritizing routes with the smallest CO2 footprint as a big opportunity for impact. A whopping 90 percent of travel buyers and 88 percent of travel suppliers said GBTA should play a role in guiding the industry in a shared sustainability journey.
“Business travel brings people together and fosters economic growth. However, the industry must ensure people can effectively connect in-person and conduct business globally while doing what is right for society and the planet,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA. “To do so, the industry needs information, tools, and partnerships to leverage current momentum and execute even more actionable outcomes. GBTA’s mission is to help guide the sustainability journey with the business travel industry, and this report is just one part of that roadmap in how we’ll get there together.”
Source: GBTA
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