Business Travel Leaders to Prioritize Green Hotels in 2023
Business travel leaders are favoring green hotels in their corporate booking tools. HRS, a payment technology platform that leads global corporate travel, and GBTA, the largest business travel association in the world, released results from a survey that showcased sustainability becoming an increasingly key factor in influencing where business travelers lay their heads when they're away from home.
HRS issued a press release on Business Wire that said 65% percent of business travel leaders would prioritize hotels with validated sustainability certifications. Of those, around 59% noted they'd prioritize those hotels in their online booking solutions for their employees, as well.
Sustainable travel has seen a significant rise since the pandemic, and prominent multi-national companies have to keep up with the volume of sustainability-related information.
Carbon-Efficient Hotels Become Focus for Senior Executives
74% of the survey respondents came from the U.S. or Canada. Findings also showed a gap from Europe to North America. 78% of Europeans were more likely to feature hotels with validated green credentials as compared to 61% in North America.
Around 36% said sustainable choices would have a "moderate" to "major" impact on lodging programs moving into 2023. 28%, however, said it would have "no impact" at all.
"The global megatrend of sustainability is accelerating in the everyday discussions taking place today that are reshaping the priorities of corporate lodging programs," said Martin Biermann, Chief Product Officer for HRS and a member of GBTA's Sustainability Leadership Council.
Delphine Millot, GBTA's Senior Vice President of Sustainability and Managing Director of the GBTA Foundation, said, "With business travel coming back at a rapid pace, it's vital for all industry participants to grasp the long-lasting changes to hotel procurement and booking that sustainability considerations are driving."
Those interested can read the full report, "A New Order: Travel Programs Focus on Sustainability."
GBTA's first Sustainability Summit takes place tomorrow, November 8, 2022 in Brussels.
