By: Julien Etchanchu, Senior Director, Sustainability Consulting
Think traveling sustainably has to cost more? Think again.
In business travel, sustainability often gets sidelined by cost concerns. Even Business Travel News Europe’s latest sustainability survey, reported that over half of travel buyers agree their biggest barrier to reducing emissions is the perceived cost of sustainable options. But does it really cost more to travel sustainably?
To uncover the truth, Advito analyzed eight common emissions-reduction strategies across our client base and found that most of these actions actually lead to significant cost savings.
Why sustainable business travel is often misunderstood
In the business travel industry, many of the most talked about strategies for reducing emissions have been focused on costly tactics like purchasing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and carbon offsets. These initiatives have grown in popularity because they allow companies to lower their environmental impact without altering how employees travel. While these solutions, along with emerging technologies like electric vehicles, often dominate the conversation around corporate travel sustainability, many travel managers, sustainability leaders, and even frequent business travelers may be surprised to discover how pragmatic and cost-effective sustainable travel programs can be when built using the tools and policies already at their disposal.
The financial advantage of sustainable business travel
For years, sustainability has been framed as a compromise: good for the planet, bad for the budget. However, our analysis revealed that many of the most effective emissions-reduction strategies also deliver financial benefits. For example:
- Switching from air to rail can dramatically cut emissions and often comes at a lower price, especially in regions like China and the U.S. East Coast.
- Flying on more fuel-efficient aircraft can reduce emissions by 17% on average and doesn’t have any impact on price.
- Shifting from business to economy can be up to three times more cost- and carbon-efficient than business class.
- Choosing upper-upscale hotels over luxury properties not only reduces environmental impact but also drives down nightly rates, without sacrificing comfort.
Small shifts can lead to big impact
Sometimes, all it takes is communicating with travelers on how to make better choices when they travel. For example, Advito helped one pharmaceutical company whose travelers often flew between London and New York identify which airlines were flying new high-efficiency aircraft, and created custom banners in their online booking tool at the point of sale to instruct corporate travelers to choose these airlines when flying this route. In just three months, the company had increased the share of flights booked on high-efficiency aircraft for this route by 20%, saving 60 tons of CO2, all while saving approximately $68,000 in air spend.
Even modest changes can drive significant results. Across our client base, the top 20 travel routes account for just 2% of total volume but drive 11% of total emissions and spend. That means if you focus your efforts on optimizing just those top routes, you could unlock meaningful savings without overhauling your entire travel program.
The bottom line
Adopting a sustainable approach to business travel doesn’t mean sacrificing financial performance. In fact, our data shows that some of the most impactful sustainability strategies often deliver the greatest cost savings.
Want to see the numbers for yourself? Check out our infographic to explore the full breakdown of which emissions reduction strategies deliver both environmental and financial ROI.