Drawing on findings from ‘The Big Idea’ session at last autumn’s GBTA Europe convention, it notes that 65% of delegates were either broadly confident or very confident in the industry’s ability to make the future of business travel more sustainable.
“The appetite for more sustainable travel is clearly there,” says Catherine Logan, Regional Vice President – EMEA at GBTA. “There’s a real push from travellers – particularly millennials.
“Offsetting has its role but there must be a bigger strategy than that,” adds Logan.
Joanna Hillman, Senior Director of Sales, UK&I at CWT, adds: “The younger generation has been the voice of action.
“TMCs must clearly be a partner in change. We are in the perfect position to take responsibility for it.”
The report says there are significant opportunities for TMCs to help clients crafter greener programmes by choosing the best suppliers, offering carbon reporting and build travel policies that incentivise ‘greener’ choices.
It goes on to day that corporates must act if they want to maintain their reputation while suppliers need to adapt in order to “remain relevant to an audience who is choosing to book with more environmentally conscious travellers”.
On the other hand, the report also identifies a range of barriers to more sustainable travel programmes that include employer apathy, a perceived lack of appropriate options and the implementation cost of more sustainable air and accommodation options.
