Worldwide: Business Travel Show Europe data has shown that 93 per cent of corporates have sustainable travel programmes but 77 per cent have not set carbon budgets, with half blaming inadequate online booking tool functionality.
The poll was answered by 289 travel and procurement managers from around the world (64 per cent UK, 22 per cent Europe, 14 per cent rest of the world). Of the seven per cent of travel and procurement managers without a sustainable travel policy:
- 33 per cent blame cost
- 22 per cent lack of commitment from SMT/leadership
- 11 per cent OBT/technology is not set up for carbon budgeting/offsetting or helping choose greener options
Business Travel Show Europe also asked how sustainable a travel program was and comparing this year’s responses with last year’s showed a potentially concerning drop in several key areas. For example, the number of corporates:
- Actively reducing internal travel – dropped from 25 per cent to six per cent
- Restricting how many people travel overseas to the same meeting – dropped from 18 per cent to 13 per cent
- Offsetting aviation-relation emissions – dropped from 22 per cent to 13 per cent
- Restricting unnecessary trips – dropped from 26 per cent to 16 per cent
The research also highlighted an increase in:
- 33 per cent (compared to 17 per cent) saying they are conscious of the human rights impact of their travel programme and make choices to limit this.
- 31 per cent (compared to 27 per cent) offer travellers information on their carbon footprint.
- 26 per cent (compared to 12 per cent) providing employees with a safe space to discuss the impact of travel on their wellbeing.
Question: how sustainable is your travel programme?
| 2023 | 2022 | ||
| 1 | 42 per cent | 39 per cent | We consider its impact on the environment and make choices to limit this. |
| 2 | 33 per cent | 17 per cent | We are conscious of the human rights impact of our travel programme and make choices to limit this. |
| 3 | 31 per cent | 27 per cent | We offer travellers information on their carbon footprint |
| 4 | 26 per cent | 12 per cent | We provide employees with a safe space to discuss the impact of travel on their wellbeing?
|
| 5 | 26 per cent | 21 per cent | We rely on our TMC for that. |
| 6 | 23 per cent | 23 per cent | We include policies designed to improve our travellers’ health and wellbeing |
| 7 | 22 per cent | 18 per cent | We set carbon budgets |
| 8 | 19 per cent | n.a. | We have blocked air options for domestic travel within our OBT. |
| 9 | 19 per cent | n.a. | We invest in SAF |
| 10 | 16 per cent | 26 per cent | We do/will restrict trips that are not 100 per cent necessary to the sustainability of the business. |
| 11 | 15 per cent | 18 per cent | We do/will restrict how many people travel to the same overseas meeting. |
| 12 | 13 per cent | 22 per cent | We offset aviation-related carbon emissions |
| 13 | six per cent | 25 per cent | We are/will be actively reducing internal travel. |
BTN Group’s executive vice president Louis Magliaro said: “We talk io corporate travel and procurement managers daily. We know that sustainability is high on their agenda and getting buy in from stakeholders – particularly for travel managers – to create and deliver more sustainable programmes is a big priority for them. But we also know that the pandemic halted progress in this area for many and, now that costs are rising and the pressure to make savings is increasing, this will also impact the speed of progression. The good news is there is so much innovation and content at Business Travel Show Europe designed to help everyone to invest in our planet and be more environmentally conscious and responsible.”
