Accelerated awareness bolsters corporate transparency
Data is key to build sustainable travel policies
When setting a sustainable business model and travel policies, travel managers need to go beyond the promises made by their providers, consider all the supply chains and calculate emissions using a reputable ‘carbon calculator’. Companies whose executives frequently fly the same route should compare C02 emissions and energy efficiency between direct and indirect flights. Other factors would be the type of aircraft, and the airline’s company’s own green policy.But no matter how much we can adjust these variables, there will always be a point when the reductions ‘flat line’ – after all, it’s impossible to travel efficiently without leaving some degree of carbon footprint.At this point, companies ambitious in their sustainability efforts can choose to offset their ‘leftover’ emissions with a carbon offsetting travel program like GreenPerk. For an extra fee of around €10, Green Perk will invest in different sustainable carbon offsetting projects around the world, from the construction of household biogas plants in rural Nepal to a Solar Home System project in Ethiopia.GreenPerk lets you offset emissions for anything you book on the TravelPerk platform, so any flights, hotels, trains, and hire cars you book can be carbon-neutral too. At present, the criteria for calculating the carbon footprint of hotel accommodation lacks a globally agreed methodology. Large hotel chains may make the sustainable strategies public; others can be estimated on location and star ratings. In these scenarios, programs like GreenPerk can give travel managers a clear, conscious, and workable tool for creating data-based reports.
What travelers want
More and more people are holding suppliers accountable, and sustainability has taken a big leap when it comes to influencing travel buyers.
Fabio Griemens, FreeNow
On the ground
Our research says that 40% of respondents would like to use something such as bikes and e-scooters or car-sharing to commute to work, and when travelling abroad they would like the same.
Fabio Griemens, FreeNow