Travel companies are today expected to operate in increasingly more sustainable ways, considering not only how their decisions impact the bottom line, but also how they affect people, the planet, and future generations. In response, travel sellers around the world have pledged to achieve sustainability goals, such as carbon neutrality or‘Net Zero’ in the next ten-to-20 years.
As these deadlines approach and pressure is growing to address environmental concerns, businesses look to take a more holistic approach to stakeholder value creation that goes beyond profit maximization.
There are clear benefits associated with this momentum around sustainability including the increase of better environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. Aside from the obvious advantages of aiming to reduce carbon emissions and promoting employee well-being, studies have shown that a focus on ESG can improve financial performance, reduce risks, and enhance competitiveness.
Where are we today?
Against this backdrop, we recently conducted a survey of 170 decision-makers at travel agencies across nine markets (UK, US, France, Germany, India, Singapore, Australia, Mexico and Spain) as part of a wider, cross-industryproject.
The purpose of the survey was to understand how these decision-makers perceive the role of technology in addressing ESG challenges, their investment priorities, and the key barriers they face in achieving their sustainability targets.
The research found that travel sellers are prioritizing and investing more in ESG. Some 38 per cent of travel sellers plan to spend more than they did in 2022, and 48 per cent plan to spend the same.
What are the top areas of focus for travel sellers when it comes to ESG? The environmental sustainability and social impact of the travel and tourism industry emerged as the top priority, cited by 25 per cent of respondents. This was closely followed by employee health, safety and well-being (24 per cent) and employee development, learning and growth (21 per cent).
Notably, 93 per cent of travel seller ESG decision-makers believe that technology will play a crucial role in achieving their sustainability goals. Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) interfaces, access to data for personalizing all stages of a journey, and advanced search capabilities were identified by 33 per cent of respondents as having the most significant potential to accelerate progress toward environmental sustainability targets, as they can help guide travelers towards more sustainable options across the traveler journey.
Despite this optimism, travel sellers highlighted the need for more guidance on sustainability-related standards across regions (selected by 45 per cent), regulations (40 per cent), and carbon emission calculation methodologies (39 per cent) to support their efforts effectively.
Providing a better traveler experience is top of mind for travel sellers. Offering more sustainable choices, greater efficiency and personalization are driving ESG decisions. There is a need to educate both employees and travelers about more sustainable travel options, while creating the solutions needed to make these options more accessible.
Travel Impact Suite
The Travel Impact Suite, launched by Amadeus, including the integration of theTravel Impact Model endorsed by Travalyst,
is a game changer for travel sellers who want to help travelers make better informed choices, reduce their environmental impact and compensate for their emissions.
Built on three key pillars –Inform, Mitigate, and Compensate – the Travel Impact Suite offers comprehensive solutions that allow travel sellers the option to prioritize more sustainable practices.
Under the ‘Inform’ pillar, Amadeus is introducing two new products within the Travel Impact Suite. Firstly, Travel Impact Data Hub aggregates emissions data from various sources for travel activities enabling travel sellers to convey and manage consistent information about the environmental impact of travel. To power the solution, Amadeus is leveraging new as well as long-standing partnerships withACRISS, ICAO, Greentripper, Greenview andTravalyst.
In addition, Travel Impact Explorer enables travel sellers to query the Data Hub to retrieve the environmental impact of a specific travel activity or for a whole trip. The Amadeus Travel Impact Suite will soon be complemented with Travel Impact Booster, allowing travelers and corporations to support projects aiming to address climate actions and/or to drive more sustainable practice through an integrated catalogue of options made available byCHOOOSE and other Amadeus partners such asCarbonClick.
With our integrated methodology with Travalyst and other bodies, we can ensure consistency and granularity in carbon emissions data, providing a unified approach across the travel industry.
Investment priorities
As the travel industry approaches 2050, investment in ESG initiatives will only intensify. Globally, the sector is moving from a period of intentions to action, delivering on commitments that have been individually declared across the industry. We at Amadeus are keeping our path towards more sustainability front of mind, both in reducing our own impact, and supporting our customers in achieving their sustainability objectives by developing IT solutions.
This research has shown that, overall, travel sellers feel positive about the changes that can be implemented to achieve their sustainability goals. Across the environmental, social and governance spectrum, there are clear issues that can be addressed through the intelligent application of technology and further collaboration and transparency within the industry.
The journey to sustainability is a collective one. With the right investments, technological advancements and industry-wide collaboration, the travel and tourism industry can successfully navigate this path and create a more sustainable and responsible future for generations to come.
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