Shauna Burns
September 3, 2025
Sustainability is no longer a buzzword or a ‘nice to have,’ it’s an absolute necessity. A business’ long-term success and indeed, reputation depends on having a robust sustainability strategy that is rolled out across all areas of the business, not least when it comes to corporate travel.
There’s a common misconception amongst many business owners that in order to reduce a company’s carbon emissions, you need to cease corporate trips altogether. However, this is simply not true. The solution is not about travelling less, it’s about travelling smarter.
At Beyond Business Travel, we don’t believe that businesses should have to choose between necessary face-to-face client meetings and reaching its sustainability goals. Businesses should be able to do both with the right tools, data and support in place.
Five strategies to decarbonise business travel without grounding it
1. Visibility through data
If businesses want to take proactive steps to reducing travel-related emissions, they first need to understand where those emissions are coming from, which all starts with data and visibility. Our high spec dashboard provides a wealth of data from costs to carbon emissions, which can be broken down by trip, traveller or department. This empowers companies to pinpoint high-emission areas and track improvements over time. With this insight, sustainability transforms into something that can be measured and managed.
2. Drive change with smarter booking processes
Having comprehensive data is a very informative tool but what really drives change is making sustainable travel options easy to act upon. That’s why our personalised and fully integrated booking process includes the carbon emissions associated with each traveller’s choice, which is clearly presented at the point of booking. When travellers or travel managers can see that choosing a train journey instead of a short haul flight will have a significant impact on emissions, or that one hotel partner outperforms another in terms of sustainability, they’re empowered to make more responsible choices that are better for the environment.
It’s not surprising that these decisions really do add up, particularly when they’re supported by company-wide sustainability policies. Through our smart routing system, we encourage travellers to prioritise rail journeys over air travel where appropriate, and help them to identify more direct, lower carbon routes. We also promote carbon conscious hotel and airline selections ensuring that environmental impact becomes a key part of decision making.
3. Don’t forget about ground transport
Using ground transport is also a great way of effecting positive change when cutting carbon emissions. Our smart technology enables travellers to car share, whether two colleagues are attending the same meeting or a group of travellers are arriving at an airport with the same final destination, small adjustments like this can result in meaningful change.
4. Greener modes of transport
Prioritising rail over short-haul flights and encouraging the use of electric vehicles for regional travel can significantly reduce emissions. We support this shift by integrating sustainable transport options into our booking tools and travel policies.
5. Robust reporting supports sustainability goals
Companies are under increasing scrutiny to prove the credibility of their sustainability efforts. That’s why we offer ESG reports for internal and external stakeholders that are specifically designed to support compliance with company policies. These reports, although extensive, are easy to digest and effectively demonstrate sustainability progress to stakeholders, board members and regulatory bodies.
Ultimately, the end goal is not to reduce travel for the sake of it but to ensure that every trip delivers value, both commercially and for the future of our planet. The benefits of in-person business trips cannot be understated and with the right tools in place, businesses can reap the rewards while making meaningful strides towards net zero.
The future of corporate travel isn’t less—it’s smarter. With the right tools and mindset, we can build a world where business thrives, and the planet does too.
At Beyond Business Travel, we enable transformative change with our clients and that’s what smarter, more sustainable, corporate travel is all about.