CWT and GBTA Report: Drivers, Opportunities and Constraints to improve sustainability in the travel industry

         

Minneapolis, 26 February 2020: CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, and GBTA have published today ‘The Big Idea: How Can We Make Business Travel More Sustainable?’. The report’s findings stem from a large-scale brainstorm session on this topic, hosted during the GBTA Conference 2019 Munich and attended by senior industry professionals representing the travel management companies (TMCs), hotel, air, car and ancillary services, as well as the corporate buyer community from across Europe.

When asked how confident they were on the industry’s ability to make the future of business travel more sustainable, 65% of delegates were either broadly confident or very confident. The percentage grew to 71% when asked about the willingness of the industry.

“At CWT we are seriously committed to being a positive force for change in the world, which is why we did not hesitate to sponsor this important session at GBTA in order to gain first-hand industry feedback around both demand and drivers for sustainable business travel,” said Françoise Grumberg, CWT’s Vice President Global Responsible Business and Diversity & Inclusion. “Our planet is under critical environmental strain and CWT is committed to driving and contributing to industry debate and forums such as this to drive as much positive action as possible.”

Drivers for change, opportunities, and constraints
Four senior leaders from different segments of the travel industry – including Directors and VPs from CWT, Oakwood Worldwide, The LEGO Group and United Airlines¹ – formed the panel who led the debate. Delegates were asked what they believed were the critical drivers for change, key opportunities to improve sustainability, constraints preventing their implementation and what role travelers, buyers, TMCs, airlines and accommodation suppliers play in bringing their ideas to life.

 

Drivers
The growing social conscience, especially among millennials and centennials, is putting pressure on companies. Traveling employees are demanding a more sustainable travel program. Organizations will need to act if they want to maintain their reputation. Suppliers, on their side, will also need to adapt their offer if they want to remain relevant for a traveler audience who is choosing to book with more environmentally conscious providers.

 

Opportunities
This mentality change will open the door to more ecofriendly alternatives – biofuel, improved recycling at airports, better waste reduction, eradicating single use plastics, fewer empty flights, modernized aircraft fleets, more ecofriendly cleaning products – that will ultimately lead to a reduction in carbon emissions.

By adopting a proactive approach, combined with state of the art technology and data capacities, TMCs can play a key role in making business travel more sustainable. They can assist companies to create a greener travel program by helping them to choose the best suppliers, by offering carbon reports and by crafting travel policies around gamification and reward systems for those employees who are more conscious.

 

Constraints
The identified constraints ranged from employer apathy to a perceived lack of alternative options. The implementation cost of more sustainable air and accommodation options as well as a lack of reporting or measurement were also identified as impediments.

“In the end, pressure from the traveler will translate into positive action. Advancements in technology will be required to help solve the more complex environmental issues such as the guest accommodation experience and carbon neutrality in the aviation industry but opportunities are aplenty to work with supply chains who already implement and track sustainable practices across the customer journey,” said Scott Solombrino, GBTA’s COO and Executive Director. “As an industry, we need to work together to find some solutions to help corporate travelers to make the right decisions when traveling on business.”

 

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 10,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA delivers world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, visit gbta.org.

 

About CWT
CWT is a Business-to-Business-for-Employees (B2B4E) travel management platform. Companies and governments rely on us to keep their people connected – anywhere, anytime, anyhow – and across six continents, we provide their employees with innovative technology and an efficient, safe and secure travel experience. Every single day, we look after enough travelers to fill more than 100,000 hotel rooms, while our meetings and events division handles more than 100 events every 24 hours. Engage with us via Facebook, LinkedIn, Podcast and Twitter.

 

Media contact:
Sandra Lastra
T: +34 647 30 25 87
slastra@mycwt.com

 

1. Panelists included: Markus Trapp, director of sales DACH at CWT, Juliet Howie, Director of Sales EMEA at Oakwood Worldwide, Mette Bank, Regional Travel Manager EMEA at The LEGO Group, and Jake Cefolia, Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales for United Airlines.