Corporate green travel takes back seat in slowdown, report finds

The annual poll, which was conducted in association with European on-demand travel and expense service provider KDS, found that cost cutting was a top business travel concern – rated a high priority by 79 per cent of companies. Environmentally sustainable travel, which often entails higher financial costs, on the other hand, was rated as a high priority for only 17 per cent of those polled.  

It found that the US businesses were less concerned about carbon emissions when planning business travel and were putting a greater focus on cost-cutting in the travel budget, suggesting that the situation in Europe may well worsen during 2009.  

Only 35 per cent of US respondents said they would consider their carbon emissions when planning business travel, compared to 42 per cent of Europeans.

Meanwhile, as much as 80 per cent of US respondents said their company had sought reductions in the travel budget to save money, while globally, it was 70 per per cent. Similarly, while 64 per cent of US respondents said they had been asked to cut their number of business trips because of the economic crisis, overall it was 54 per cent.

“At this stage, green travel choices remain scarce and are usually more expensive.  For example, European companies can send their staff by high speed rail, which is low in emissions but often more expensive than a low-cost flight,” said Yves Weisselberger, ceo of KDS.  “However, in the current economy, paying a premium is hard to justify, so green business travel will lose out.”

The poll, however, found that while green business travel was being affected by the recession companies were still seeking to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR).

In all, 61 per cent of organisations now have a CSR charter, compared to 59 per cent in 2008, and 27 per cent of organisations said they preferred to do business with suppliers and partners with a CSR charter, the survey found.

Reducing energy waste within company buildings was the most common form of CSR activity, the report found, with 76 per cent of companies ascribing to it. Contributing to the local community (55 per cent), cutting carbon emissions in production plans (34 per cent) and using carbon offset arrangements (25 per cent) were the next most common activities.

The poll found that 28 per cent of corporate travel departments are required to report to management on carbon emissions performance.

“The survey shows that, contrary to some predictions, corporate social responsibility has not fallen from favour in these challenging times.  Instead, the figures show that it is steadily gaining ground and becoming part of the DNA for organisations around the world,” commented Susan Gurley, executive director and chief staff officer of ACTE. “However, it also puts to rest the myth that good CSR practices automatically include greener travel choices. Under present economic conditions, green travel choices may frequently conflict with the greater urge to cut costs.”

The survey was conducted between December 2008 and January 2009 capturing the views of 329 travel managers and business travellers from across the globe.