Future of sustainable travel business

The first International Summit Travel Management concluded in Cordoba, highlighting a specialised segment of corporate travel after the global health crisis. The discussions during the event focused on sustainable tourism and ways to make travel more eco-friendly.

Cordoba played host to the  International Summit Travel Management, the first meeting organized post pandemic that focused on corporate travel and its trends moving forward. The Spanish Association of Business Travel Managers, AEGVE; organised this event and invited representatives from across Europe to understand the future of business travel and realign expectations.

“In the current global scenario, it is considered an opportunity to hold the event that will serve as a reference point for both national and international participants,” says Victor Rawinad, Chairman, AEGVE group.

Interestingly, the conversations moved beyond the current pandemic very quickly and focused on the need for ease of travel. While border restrictions were discussed, they were something that one needs to live with but improve the overall customer experience to encourage travel.

Europe is preparing for a huge comeback of business travel, the need and desire to travel for work is still very strong and the industry sentiment focussed on that through the two day convention. Sustainable travel remained significant and the need to reduce the carbon footprint continued to take centre stage.

The buzz words for business travel in Europe are people, planet and profitability where risk management and productivity are compared to carbon footprint, cost control and sufficient planning behind each trip. Flights vs train journeys have become a heated discussion again and the sustainability in business travel will help define future travel trends.   The ISTM analysed the health emergency’s impact on corporate travel, the possible changes that would have occurred in this area, and the foreseeable evolution they will have in the coming years.

Day to day issues were also discussed during the business sessions and strategies to integrate hybrid events were brought into the limelight.   Organised against the beautiful backdrop of Cordoba, the ISTM highlighted the various MICE offerings in Andalucía and helped showcase the strength of the region in hosting business events.

ISO 31030

A key takeaway from the event was the new travel risk standard ISO 31030 recently launched to help travel risk managers develop a streamlined, integrated and effective process to ensure the safety of their travellers. ISO 31030 covers all aspects of corporate travel including authorisations, planning, policy, traveller assessment, transportation, destination, accommodation and much more.