Some 95% of buyers say more must be done to mitigate the travel industry’s toll on the environment, Traveldoo reveals in its second annual Travel Buyer Survey, although 70% are committed to having a sustainable travel policy in place within the next few years.
“Awareness of sustainability issues has steadily been increasing over the last year with businesses needing to take greater responsibility for their green credentials,” says Sam Cande, Traveldoo UK Country Manager and Chair of BTA Planet Plan.
“It’s slow moving and as the results of our survey find, there is still a massive way to go before the industry is winning this battle – and that’s from the eyes of those closest to action.”
Cande continues: “Perhaps most reassuring is that 70% of travel managers said their businesses will have sustainable travel policies in place within the next few years with the same number also claiming their organisations already measure their carbon footprint for business travel.”
Traveldoo, which is the travel and expense technology division of Expedia Group, enables its users to see their year-to-date carbon usage and track progress against budgets.
Research published by GBTA and Concur last November revealed only 27% of travel managers say their company encourages travellers to book with sustainable suppliers.
Furthermore, only 31% are currently working sustainable initiatives into travel policy and only 4% mandate travellers to select suppliers using sustainable practices.
The survey showed that more than two-thirds (70%) of European travel managers believe it is important to empower travellers to make sustainable travel choices, and over half (57%) have received requests from travellers to do so.
