Emburse reported (14-Jul-2023) the following findings on attitudes towards sustainability among British business travellers, based on a Censuswide survey of 1003 employees and 254 employers conducted in May-2023:
- Respondents ranked cost effectiveness (31%), convenience (27%) and loyalty programmes (21%) as more important than environmental concerns (16%) when booking travel;
- 38% of businesses reported increased investment in sustainability. 27% have reduced sustainability investment due to the higher cost of doing business;
- 71% of businesses offer a formal sustainability policy or guidelines but only 37% actively enforce their policies during bookings and travel expense approvals. 25% do not have a business travel sustainability policy and 6% do not plan to implement one;
- 43% of businesses are considering implementing initiatives and incentives, such as travel budget incentives, cycle to work schemes and remote training, to encourage sustainable employee travel;
- 74% of business travellers believe it is their organisation's responsibility to enable sustainable business travel, regardless of the cost. 71% said their employer should do more to enable sustainable travel;
- 76% of employees agreed they would use a more sustainable mode of transport if financial incentives or sustainability programmes were available. 26% would proactively cut down on travel to reduce their carbon footprint. Employee demand for sustainable travel incentives increased by 19% compared to Emburse's 2021 survey.
Emburse SVP travel and mobility Jeroen van Velzen commented: "Whilst travel managers could strictly enforce their companies' policies to help achieve carbon goals, this heavy-handed approach risks alienating travelling employees", adding: "Employers need to provide employees with tools to make smarter decisions, and employees need to use that insight to make more environmentally friendly travel plans". [more - original PR]