Sustainability in the travel industry is one of the most interesting challenges of our times. Traveling is a necessity, a pleasure, a natural instinct of human beings, yet, in recent years, those who care about sustainability are unable to do so without feeling guilty about the environmental impact that is generated with every move. But is it true that travel itself is not very eco-sustainable? Riccardo Ricci, our Sales Manager for Business Travel, spoke about it with Geco Expo in this interview .
Q: Tourism and business travel: which category has best received the call to sustainability?
A: The tourism sector in general understood before anyone else that sustainability is the only way out of this post-pandemic crisis . We see more and more people choosing outdoor holidays and active tourism during the holidays and I am convinced that the same trend will be replicated in Business Travel when companies start traveling again.
What is certain is that companies will have to change their perspective in their approach to business travel : the travel policy will have to focus on the well-being and safety of the traveler before costs, and choices on the supply chain will have to fall mainly on sustainable services. In this way, companies will achieve two ESG (Environmental Social Governance) objectives, namely the well-being of their employees and attention to the environment, which will soon translate into savings for those companies that draw up the sustainability report.
I would like to remind you that Alma Travel was the first ESG certified travel agency, but we will certainly soon see other agencies follow the same path.
Q: The travel industry has changed a lot in recent years. What are the most interesting news in terms of sustainable travel for you?
A: Giant strides are being made in our sector to face the difficult challenge of the Paris "Agenda 2030" agreement, i.e. halving the amount of CO2 emissions . Many airlines such as Air France and KLM are adopting SAF fuels which, although less polluting, unfortunately have a considerable cost, and the real challenge will be that of a complete renewal of the airline fleets.
The hotel sector is moving in the same direction: we will soon see the birth of new certifications that attest to the real level of sustainability of a structure not only from an energy point of view (already today many hotels boast the Green label, taking into consideration only this parameter), but for all consumables present in the hotel (detergents, soaps, containers, etc.).
Alma Travel actively engages with its customers to provide sustainable travel solutions and provides a detailed report of the CO2 emitted for each trip which, thanks to collaboration with external companies, is certified to be included in the sustainability report.
However, I would like to dispel the myth that travel is very polluting. They are only so if there is no process that guarantees control and coordination with all stakeholders. But what about online meetings? A recent investigation by the University of Michigan had attributed a significant rate of pollution to virtual meetings: a 6-hour meeting had emitted 1324 kilos of CO2 emissions equal to driving 3300 miles. A fact that certainly makes us reflect and on which we must today observe the theme of meetings (physical and virtual) with different, more sustainable perspectives.
Q: Is it possible to combine the recovery of the sector with sustainability objectives?
A: It is not only possible but it is a duty to do so. Let's strive to understand that sustainability is made up of many small steps that we all must take towards a common good. An economic recovery that does not look at sustainability would lead us to self-destruction and, we should have understood this thanks also to the pandemic, we can no longer waste time. But be careful, I am not only looking at the recovery of our sector but also at the recovery of local trade thanks to the growing phenomenon of Smart Working or Workation, a new trend in the world of agile working . However, it is important not to repeat the mistakes made in the past. Moving the worker from the company headquarters to a new workplace involves rethinking at a legal and safety level, both for the worker himself and in terms of protection of company data, and above all the real impact on the sustainability of such a choice must be assessed. Let's try to think about all these aspects first and not later, as usually happens, and we could all benefit from it.
Q: The travel industry has changed a lot in recent years. What are the most interesting news in terms of sustainable travel for you?
A: Giant strides are being made in our sector to face the difficult challenge of the Paris "Agenda 2030" agreement, i.e. halving the amount of CO2 emissions. Many airlines such as Air France and KLM are adopting SAF fuels which, although less polluting, unfortunately have a considerable cost, and the real challenge will be that of a complete renewal of the airline fleets.
The hotel sector is moving in the same direction : we will soon see the birth of new certifications that attest to the real level of sustainability of a structure not only from an energy point of view (already today many hotels boast the Green label, taking into consideration only this parameter), but for all consumables present in the hotel (detergents, soaps, containers, etc.).
Alma Travel actively engages with its customers to provide sustainable travel solutions and provides a detailed report of the CO2 emitted for each trip which, thanks to collaboration with external companies, is certified to be included in the sustainability report.
However, I would like to dispel the myth that travel is very polluting. They are only so if there is no process that guarantees control and coordination with all stakeholders. But what about online meetings? A recent investigation by the University of Michigan had attributed a significant rate of pollution to virtual meetings: a 6-hour meeting had emitted 1324 kilos of CO2 emissions equal to driving 3300 miles. A fact that certainly makes us reflect and on which we must today observe the theme of meetings (physical and virtual) with different, more sustainable perspectives.
Q: How have your customers' needs changed in these two years?
A: There is no doubt that companies have different needs today, just as there are different needs for their business travellers. First of all, safety issues come first and concern not only health aspects but also places and different means of travel. Digitalisation has also changed the process of managing a trip a lot, just think that if before the pandemic travelers asked (or rather demanded) communications and travel tickets via e-mail, today thanks to our AlmaApp we transfer all the information in a digital. I assure you that by doing so you will achieve significant savings in CO2. We also observe the push towards digitalisation with more advanced software solutions or vertical integrations operated with customer management systems. Previously, 80% of travel requests arrived via email, now we are at 20% via email, 70% via software integrations, 10% via self booking tool. This latter method is constantly growing, so much so that we have developed intelligent self-booking with the possibility of inserting the company travel policy and travel authorization.
Fortunately, Alma Travel, in 50 years of honorable career, has seen many evolutions in the sector, managing to react quickly to market demands also thanks to the great attention it has towards its customers.
Q: Why did you choose to support Geco Expo?
R: But sorry, do you know of another fair that talks about sustainability like you? I don't know it and honestly since last year, when Daniele Capogna mentioned the project to me, I immediately agreed without thinking for a second.
Many years ago I started talking about sustainability in the world of travel. At first I felt a little alone and misunderstood. Now, I have the opportunity to share WITH YOU a virtual space to talk ABOUT REAL SOLUTIONS; so I am the one who must thank you for the opportunity you give me.
CREDITS – The interview was published on GECO EXPO
Next stop: Workation!
On March 2nd at 3.40pm our Riccardo will participate as a speaker in the virtual round table organized by Geco Expo. The topic? The phenomenon of Workation, the new trend that heralds the increase in the number of people who in the next 2 years will book leisure stays while carrying out their work responsibilities remotely or during the same business trip.