Business Travel Show, London, February 9, 2010 – According to a new global study, organisations are sticking with their commitment to greener travel, despite the recession, but bosses are felt to be setting a poor example in their own travel choices.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and KDS, the European leader in online Travel & Expense management systems, have undertaken an international survey of attitudes towards business travel and the environment. In December 2009 and January 2010, the opinions of 317 business travellers and procurement and travel executives were gauged via an online poll.

Unsurprisingly, cost-cutting is said to be the top business travel priority for organisations, but it is striking that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes have not been ditched in the recession. The majority of respondents (57%) disagree that their company would care less about CSR because of the financial crisis. Supporting environmental sustainability is also still a mid-tier corporate concern, also according to a majority (46%) of those expressing a view.

However, most respondents (45%) say top managers set a bad example in the ‘greenness’ of their travel choices. The worst offenders are in France and United States: 44% of respondents in France say their managers set a poor example (good example: 36%); bosses in the US are also slammed by 44% of respondents (supported by 39%). The UK has the most virtuous bosses, whose travel choices are approved of by 51% of UK respondents (although criticised by 41%).

Other findings include:

• The majority of respondents (61%) saw employers cut the amount of business travel undertaken in 2009.
• Frustrating hopes for quick economic recovery, almost three-quarters expect to travel only the same amount this year, or even less (51%: travel unchanged; 21%: fewer trips). This is partly offset by the 27% who expect to travel more.
• Around 19% say travel reductions resulted from CSR goals as well as cost-cutting objectives.
• A growing number of travel departments are believed to report to senior management on business travel carbon emissions: in this survey, only 55% said this was not the case, versus 61% the previous year.

Respondents were asked what might help them travel in a more ecologically-conscious way. Most would like greater information about the carbon emissions of a travel option before booking – 66% say this is something they would welcome. Some 59% of respondents say they would like more guidance on their employers’ CSR and travel policies.

ACTE President Richard Crum says: “It is a great relief to see that Corporate Social Responsibility remains a strong priority for many corporations, and an equally strong concern for travellers, who are making an effort to reduce their impact on the planet. It is understandable that the last year has seen corporate leadership focus on the financial health of their companies.  However, it is important to recognize that truly sustainable businesses balance the demands of shareholders with respect for the environment and the people and communities they impact every day.”

Yves Weisselberger, CEO of KDS, adds: “It is great to see that CSR has been taken to heart by so many organisations. However, the survey reveals that employees would like more help in making green travel choices. Online travel booking tools can be powerful in this regard, helping with policy enforcement, carbon calculators and highlighting low-carbon options. However, there is still much more to be done through employee communications, and here – as in their individual travel choices – top managers must take the lead.

The full report on the 2010 ACTE-KDS survey is available upon request.

The survey is being distributed to business travellers and bookers across the globe, analysing the current trends in business travel and, in particular, corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Yves Weisselberger, chief executive officer of KDS, says: “We want to know how hard the business travel industry is working to be as environmentally-friendly as possible. The survey will help us promote the good work being done, as well as identifying the CSR failings in business travel that need to be addressed.

“We are studying all aspects of the business travel experience, from company travel policies, through the booking process and on to the journey itself and the consequent expenses management. The survey will therefore provide an invaluable snapshot of the modern business travel experience.”

The KDS/ACTE online travel survey can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/acte-p. The results will be analysed and published at the Business Travel and Meetings Show (BTMS) in London from February 9-10 2010.

This is the fourth consecutive year that ACTE and KDS have gauged business opinion on issues around CSR and business travel.  The latest survey was conducted between December 2008 and January 2009 and captured the opinions of 329 travel managers and business travellers from around the world, the largest-ever response to an ACTE/KDS survey and a 52% increase from last year’s respondents.

Confounding the sceptics, the study found that companies are not being blown off course by the global recession in seeking to promote CSR:

• 61% of organisations now have a CSR charter (versus 59% in 2008)
• 27% of organisations prefer to do business with suppliers and partners with a CSR charter
• 28% of corporate travel departments are required to report to management on carbon emissions performance
• The most common CSR activities are reducing energy waste within company buildings (76% of companies), contributing to the local community (55%), cutting carbon emissions in production plans (34%) and using carbon offset arrangements (25%).

However, this commitment to CSR does not automatically translate into greener travel choices, as these often entail higher financial costs.  The survey finds that companies see cost-cutting as the top business travel concern (rated a high priority by 79% of companies), while environmentally sustainable travel is a high priority for only 17%.  Overall, environmental sustainability is rated only a mid-level priority for business travel, ranked at this level by 48% of organisations.

Greater concern about our impact on the environment appears to be more of a European phenomenon.  Only 35% of US respondents said they would consider their carbon emissions when planning business travel, compared to 42% of Europeans.

Meanwhile, the United States has already seen a greater focus on cost-cutting in the travel budget, suggesting that the situation in Europe may well worsen during 2009.  Overall, 70% of respondents said their company has sought reductions in the travel budget to save money, but for US organisations the figure was 80%.  Similarly, while 54% of respondents said they had been asked to cut their number of business trips because of the economic crisis, for US respondents the figure was 64%.

Susan Gurley, executive director and chief staff officer of ACTE, said, “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.  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.”

Yves Weisselberger, CEO of KDS, commented, “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.  However, in the current economy, paying a premium is hard to justify, so green business travel will lose out.  Longer term, though, the picture is brighter – companies clearly want to do the right thing through CSR, so once the financial premium is erased, or the economy permits, we should expect to see green business travel become far more popular.”

ENDS