Travel is a common source of both environmental impact and cost in a business. A sustainable business travel strategy can minimise both of these.
Here we’ll cover the key benefits you can gain, as well as set out the practical steps needed to establish a successful sustainable travel strategy. Let’s get started!
Sustainable Travel: Its Value to the Business
A sustainable travel strategy minimises the environmental impact of business travel, whilst preserving operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness. An effective strategy is built around 4 main objectives:
To reduce your business carbon footprint
To promote responsible travel
Enhance the business reputation
Achieve long-term cost savings
In achieving these 4 main objectives, the following business and environmental benefits can be secured:
Core Business Benefits
Cost Savings Reducing travel frequency and choosing sustainable options can significantly lower expenses on transportation, accommodation, and daily allowances.
Enhanced Employee Well-being Streamlined travel plans and the adoption of virtual meetings reduce stress, improve work-life balance, and support overall employee satisfaction.
Strengthened Reputation A clear commitment to sustainability not only bolsters the brand image but also appeals to environmentally conscious customers, investors, and partners.
Improved Compliance and Risk Management Aligning with global sustainability standards and regulations minimises compliance risks and positions the business to meet future regulatory requirements.
Environmental Benefits
Reduced Emissions: Favouring greener, low emission, modes of transportation directly lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
Resource Conservation: Efficient travel planning decreases the consumption of natural resources, such as fuel and electricity.
Waste Reduction: By leveraging digital solutions and minimising unnecessary travel, the strategy helps reduce waste.
Biodiversity & Air Quality: Fewer journeys mean less disturbance to sensitive ecosystems and wildlife habitats, as well a minimising contributions to air pollution in populated areas.
Practical Steps for Implementing a Sustainable Travel Strategy
1. Policy Development
Establish Clear Guidelines: Develop a comprehensive travel policy that outlines preferred modes of travel, accommodation standards, and methods to minimise travel. Ensure the policy reflects the company’s commitment to sustainability.
Set Objectives and Targets: Define measurable goals, such as reducing business travel emissions by a certain percentage within a specified timeframe.
Practical Tip: Involve key stakeholders during development and communicate the guidelines through training sessions and internal communications. Use the below travel hierarchy to structure your preferred modes of travel preferences:
2. Travel Reduction and Alternatives
Encourage Virtual Meetings: This is a easy route to avoid travel. Make use of conferencing tools (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype) to reduce the need for travel.
Implement Flexible Working Arrangements: Adopt remote working policies to decrease commuting needs and business travel. Consider local co-working spaces to support employees.
Develop Regional Hubs: Create regional offices to decentralise operations, which can reduce the need for long-distance travel. For smaller businesses, consider joining up to share workspace offices and making these available to your staff.
Practical Tip: Provide adequate IT infrastructure and training to support virtual collaboration and remote work.
3. Sustainable Travel Options
Support Cycling and Walking: Offer incentives such as secure bike storage, showers, and changing facilities to promote non-motorised travel.
Prioritise Rail and Public Transport: Encourage the use of trains and other public transportation for regional trips when remote communication is not viable.
Promote Carpooling and Ride-Sharing: For times when car travel is needed, consider setting up partnerships with ride-sharing services to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
Practical Tip: Negotiate corporate rates with transport providers and create an internal platform to facilitate carpooling.
4. Eco-friendly Accommodation
Choose Local and Sustainable Options: Encourage stays at locally owned accommodations that adhere to sustainable practices.
Look Out For Green-certified Hotels: Partner with hotels that have recognised environmental certifications (EarthCheck, GSTC, Green Seal) and create a preferred list for business travel.
Practical Tip: Educate employees on how to identify eco-friendly lodging and negotiate competitive corporate rates.
5. Employee Engagement and Education
Conduct Training Programs: Organise sessions on sustainable travel, including topics like carbon footprint calculation, eco-friendly travel tips, and effective use of virtual meeting tools.
Implement Incentives and Rewards: Reward employees who consistently choose sustainable travel options with bonuses, extra vacation days, or public recognition.
Practical Tip: Keep training content updated and use internal communications to share success stories.
6. Monitoring and Reporting
Track Travel Data: Utilise travel management software to monitor travel patterns, costs, and emissions. Analyse the data to identify trends and areas for improvement.
Publish Annual Sustainability Reports: Share progress on travel-related emissions, cost savings, and the achievement of set targets to build trust with stakeholders.
Practical Tip: Integrate travel and expense systems for accurate data and present findings with clear visual dashboards.
7. Collaboration and Partnerships
Join Industry Groups: Engage with coalitions focused on sustainable travel to exchange best practices and stay updated on new trends.
Partner with Sustainable Suppliers: Collaborate with travel service providers, airlines, hotels, and car rental companies that are committed to reducing environmental impact.
Practical Tip: Regularly assess suppliers based on their sustainability credentials. Preference businesses that are looking to pursue sustainable travel practices. Also look out for opportunities to learn from your supply base.
8. Continuous Improvement
Conduct Regular Reviews: Periodically assess the travel policy and strategy to ensure they remain effective and aligned with evolving industry standards.
Solicit Employee Feedback: Gather insights from employees regarding their experiences and suggestions, using surveys and feedback tools to drive ongoing improvements.
Practical Tip: Schedule regular strategy reviews and adjust targets based on performance data.
Sustainable Business Travel: Essential & Practical
By establishing clear sustainable travel policies, promoting travel alternatives, and engaging employees, businesses can achieve substantial benefits for both business and the environment.
In doing so, your business will not only contributes to the climate action, but also position itself as a leader in sustainability, paving the way for long-term success and resilience.
To support you further, we also recommend you check the following resources to broaden your sustainable business strategy:
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To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
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Statistics
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