Although a solid majority of companies have set sustainability goals, fewer than half have set sustainability goals specific to travel, according to a BCD Travel survey of 112 travel buyers.
The online survey, conducted July 11-23, showed that 45 percent of respondents said their company had travel sustainability goals, and an equal percentage said their company did not. The remaining 10 percent didn't know. That compares with 82 percent who said their company had overall sustainability goals.
A higher percentage, 52 percent, said their travel program encourages sustainable travel, while 18 percent said their program did not. The most frequently offered sustainability options included reducing the number of trips and substituting train travel for flights, each cited by 47 percent of respondents, followed by encouraging direct flights instead of connecting flights (44 percent) and consolidating multiple trips into longer stays (39 percent).
BCD also surveyed nearly 1,800 travelers during that same period, and a similar percentage—55 percent—said their employers encouraged sustainable travel, while only 8 percent said the company did not. Reducing the number of trips also topped their list of sustainable travel options, which 48 percent of travelers said their companies encourage, followed by sharing ground transportation (44 percent) and limiting the number of employees on the same trip (33 percent).
More than half of buyers said the extra cost of some sustainable travel options was a hinderance to progress in a sustainable travel program, the most frequently cited obstacle. That was followed by educating travelers on adopting sustainable travel practices (47 percent) and a lack of standard measurements for sustainable programs (45 percent). On the traveler side, nearly half said they do not receive enough information related to sustainable travel, and nearly 70 percent said they never or rarely receive communication on sustainable travel from their travel teams; about 40 percent of travelers said the same of their sustainability teams.
Only 20 percent of travelers said they were aware of their company's sustainability goals for travel, compared with 57 percent who were aware of their company's broader sustainability goals.
A majority of travel buyers in the survey said their companies are not offsetting carbon emissions from travel, though that appears poised to change. While only 23 percent said their company offsets travel-related emissions, an additional 31 percent said their company is considering doing so.
Sixteen percent of buyers said their company is purchasing sustainable aviation fuel, and 22 percent said their company is considering that approach.