Since last year I have joined AITMM, the Italian Association of Travel and Mobility Managers, and I was pleased to discover their professionalism and multiple skills.
Paolo Tedesco, President of the Association, among his many commitments, dedicated his precious time to me for a chat with friends, and from that moment on the spark of curiosity about this very complicated profession was lit.
Working for a Travel Management Company that has always been committed to environmental sustainability, I only saw one part of this world, the one linked to corporate travel. But in reality sustainability, as I have written in many articles on the topic, is a small daily gesture made by all of us.
In fact, the role of the Travel and Mobility Manager in drawing up the Home-Work Travel Plan for employees is very important, the first step in sustainability for a company, since not all employees make company trips but certainly everyone goes to the workplace every morning. Furthermore, his role is crucial in the choice of suppliers for company trips, who will also have to commit to sustainability to guarantee a green supply chain. Finally, it is vital in managing the safety and well-being of employees both inside and outside the company.
If you consider all these aspects you will agree with me that the Travel and Mobility Manager plays a central role in the ecological transition today more than ever and one cannot do without his professionalism.
On the other hand, the Travel Management Company must cater to the changing needs of companies and expand its skills towards new scenarios of integrated corporate mobility, CO2 containment, traveler safety and well-being.
Alma Travel has been playing this role for some time now by offering companies the calculation of the CO2 produced and, thanks to the ESG certification with an A rating, it earns credits for the companies that draw up the sustainability report. Thanks to the help of expert external partners, it helps its companies in drafting home-work mobility plans, in the drafting or continuous revision of the company travel policy and in travel risk management.
For all these skills Alma Travel was chosen as Travel Management Company by the largest solar energy producer in Europe with which it has undertaken a virtuous path towards sustainability by integrating personnel management systems with the travel platform and with the AlmApp, obtaining in just a few months a significant reduction in environmental impact thanks to the dematerialisation of the many documents produced during each trip, as well as significant reductions in processing times for checking them.
With satisfaction, in recent months Alma Travel has received more and more requests from new client companies that invest in sustainability and need a sustainable service provider: a sign that companies are starting to understand that sustainability, in the near future, will be a savings item in company balance sheets and no longer a cost, as well as being everyone's ethical duty.
I am convinced that a continuous dialogue between Travel and Mobility Manager and Travel Management Company will bring immense benefits to companies both in terms of well-being for their employees and environmental sustainability. Only by traveling along the same path together will we be able to reach the very ambitious goal of the 2030 Agenda. The path is long and the time is short but together we will make it.
Thanks as always for reading these reflections of mine.
RICCARDO GABRIELE RICCI
Sales Manager for Business Travel at Alma Travel