ITM COMMENT

Good times bad times

Every buyer-supplier meeting in the Noughties seemed to include the emerging topic of making business travel more sustainable . Then the Lehman’s crash happened, and attention swiftly switched to corporate survival and re-aligning supply and demand as airfares and hotel rates tumbled alarmingly.

It’s uncomfortable to acknowledge that, when times are tough, insufficient attention tends to be placed on making business travel tread as lightly as possible.

The current cost-of-living crisis and period of relative austerity feels like it could also challenge our focus on delivering responsible travel programmes. Resourcing, cost management and market uncertainties are extremely challenging for businesses.

ITM’s buyer members report that the volatile trading environment is placing downward pressure on their travel budgets at a time when business travel costs have risen by the highest levels any of us can remember. At the same time buyer members are

Scott Davies

Chief Executive

under pressure to deliver on their organisation’s sustainability targets.

There's a real sense of urgency due to a sharper global focus on climate change, companies setting commitments to net zero emissions and legislation that will tighten up their disclosure of carbon emissions. Hence ITM recently established a Sustainability Taskforce to provide buyers with some practical guidance on how to shape a responsible travel programme.

So we find ourselves in a peculiar time. Booking the most responsible travel option often means more cost (or inconvenience), and this has frequently been a barrier to embracing responsible travel practices.

Right now, though, trips are likely being justified, or not, mainly on the question of cost, with few unnecessary trips being made. The net effect of tighter budgets and higher travel costs can only lead to one thing – less business travel. But it could also unwittingly lead the way towards buyers building net-zero travel programmes.