Vroom or Zoom? As travel finally begins to rebound and people are getting back on the road, travel buyers are going to need to re-invent their travel program to adapt to – and meet the needs of – what is expected to be a smaller travel footprint. This helps both the environment and corporate budgets.

Corporations have seen that they can manage to be successful without traveling, but that only counts when everyone else isn’t traveling. As soon a company’s competition hits the road, others will follow suit. The same thing is true for the impact travel has on the environment. So as more companies start to measure that, others will follow as well. What we see here is a natural progression – from travel that seems to just happen to travel that matters. So this month our Phat Data focus is on two things, saving money and saving the planet.

Day Trippers 
For example, should we anticipate that the days of traveling for a one-day meeting are long gone? So how would buyers address that change in the policy and booking process? There are so many things to consider, but tapping into your Phat Data can help. First off, it is critical for buyers to begin the discussion with their leadership and determine how one day trips should be handled moving forward. Are they allowed at all? Does there need to be an approval process? If so, how will that be managed?

Additionally, buyers should be engaging with their travel management companies and online booking tools to have a clear understanding of what functionality is available to manage these potential new processes. Can an OBT restrict one day trips? Can an approval process be designed to automatically call out only one day trips?

But most importantly be prepared with the data around the spend for one day trips. Find out about trips you had in a benchmark year – let’s say 2019. How many? Who traveled? At what cost? This will require capturing data from multiple sources, including your TMC and general ledger. Compiling this data will take some time and effort, so starting sooner rather than later is sound advice.

Once this data is gathered, be prepared to highlight the cost impact to the program. Does it account for 10 percent of all trips, or half of all trips? There is potential for additional fallout from eliminating one day trips; for instance, will there be an increase in two-day trips? Because after all, people who want to travel will find a way! Could eliminating one day trips actually cost you more over time? Buyers, be prepared to present the implications of longer trips.
In addition to eliminating one day trips, implementing more demand management strategies should be considered. The potential to reduce non-revenue generating trips should be thoroughly vetted and the financial impact considered.

A World of Difference 
While clearly identifying the financial impact of reducing travel is fairly simple, there is another benefit to reducing travel – the sustainability factor. What impact can your travel program have to the organization’s overall ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives of your company?

Given that for 15 months business travel was nearly non-existent, many companies have discovered they can have a bigger impact in this area. As buyers begin to have the conversations with leadership around what the return to travel looks like for their programs, they should also be talking about the environmental impact that less travel will have.

Buyers will need to begin collecting the data so that they can initially measure the impact on sustainability that their travel program has had. Most will want to pick a year other than 2020 as a baseline, since 2020 was such an anomaly. First, ask the question, does your company have specific goals they are trying to achieve? If so, how much of an impact can your travel program has towards meeting those goals? Define what you need to measure. Is it CO2 emissions, or is it electric vehicle usage? Is it waste? Is it water usage in the type of hotels that your travelers use? There are many things to consider.

Most people start with CO2 emissions tracking. Many OBT’s and suppliers can help provide you the data you need to make intelligent decisions around how your choices on the return to travel will also impact your sustainability initiatives. They truly go hand-in-hand right now.

There are many methodologies and services available to measure things like carbon emissions, so buyers should investigate and determine what and how they will measure, while being sure they are in alignment with their corporate strategy. Once the emissions are measured, the buyers can then determine how to reduce, eliminate or offset.

But Wait, There’s More 
Even if a company doesn’t reduce any of their travel, buyers can still have an impact on the environment through potential policy changes. Some examples to take into consideration include changing airline cabin usage from business to coach by increasing the hours required to travel in business class; the business class cabin has a larger footprint for calculating CO2.

Rental car class/size is another thing to consider; smaller vehicles with better mileage have a positive impact, but renting electric vehicles whenever possible will have an even greater impact. Move from large resort hotels with golf courses and lazy rivers to smaller hotels that use less water. Requiring less room service and laundry also has a positive impact, not only to the environment but the overall costs to the property, which in turn could result in downline savings to the corporate program.

Partnering with the right suppliers can also have a big impact. Airlines are a great example; they all have launched initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. Many of them are partnering with corporate customers to provide the data that can help travel buyers understand their emissions and among other things, offer the ability to buy carbon offsets or invest in sustainable aviation fuel. These partnerships are important to the conversations that buyers are having with corporate leadership.

Understanding the ways in which reduced travel impacts costs, compounded with its environmental impact, allows buyers to bring a strong business case to the table. Needless to say, coming out of this pandemic, the managed travel program is forever changed, and we must be prepared to answer the questions that are coming – if they aren’t already being asked.

Use the Phat Data that you can get from your managed travel program to your advantage and let it prepare you for the future. ​

Jennifer Steinke is Global Head of Travel for PPD, Inc., and an industry thought leader with over 30 years experience managing corporate travel. She holds an MBA plus Certified Corporate Travel Executive (CCTE) and Global Travel Professional (GTP) certifications from GBTA. Jennifer strives to deliver innovative and thought provoking ideas to the corporate travel industry.