The return to travel and sustainability
As travel begins to pick up again around Europe, travellers have voiced their concerns over post-pandemic business travel and sustainability.
The rate at which business travel has returned has been significant. Just this month Eurostar reported that they are running at 75% of their pre pandemic timetable, and that business travel has returned to 70%.
The return to travel is being felt more in countries such as France and Germany, where public transport traffic levels are now higher than they were pre pandemic. A large driving factor for this in Germany is the release of the 9 EUR train ticket that allows you unlimited travel on local/regional transport during the selected month. The ticket went on sale in May, and can be used between June and August. Meanwhile in France, the National Assembly has approved a draft law that would see a ban on internal flight routes where there is an alternative to travel by rail taking less than two and half hours.
A similar scheme has just been launched by KLM and Thalys, whereby KLM buy seats on Thalys high-speed trains for transfer passengers travelling between Schiphol and Brussels. This scheme allows KLM to operate one less flight between Amsterdam and Brussels every day.
This all comes after a recent survey of business travellers shows that 56% of people would change their mode of transportation over the next 12 months to reduce the environmental impact.
As an organisation, Diversity Travel is proud to be at the forefront of carbon reduction within the travel sector and have always taken our responsibility towards our impact on the environment seriously. We have held the ISO accreditation for environmental management (ISO 14001) since 2008 and have been ‘climate neutral’ since 2011.
To support our customers in reducing their carbon impact we always provide important information on our Online Booking Tool, highlighting the CO2 cost of journeys, and encouraging rail travel where possible by displaying international rail content alongside available flights.
Our online booking tool will also allow users to filter search results by carbon emissions, and display an amber warning for domestic UK flights, UK-Paris flights or UK-Brussels flights where rail use will have a smaller impact on the environment. Our online booking tool, paired with our BI-Reporting tool allows clients to make greener and more climate-conscious decisions when it comes to booking business travel.
To learn more about how Diversity Travel can support your organisation achieving your sustainability objectives, please contact us at 0161 235 5400.