On April 14th, 2021, ahead of the first cohort of the GSTC Sustainable Business Travel Course (May 27 – June 11, 2021), Horst Bayer and Bernard Harrop shared key trends and applicable examples in a public GSTC Webinar. This public webinar was moderated by Roi Ariel, GSTC General Manager.

Recording of the webinar is available on the GSTC YouTube channel (see below)

Business travel is a segment within the tourism industry focusing on visitors who travel for business and professional purposes. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the share of GDP generated by the business travel market reached 0.7 percent in 2019. In that year, the business tourism spending worldwide – which has more than doubled since 2000 – peaked at roughly 1.28 trillion U.S. dollars. Business travel is an important factor in national and international business. However, it also has a negative effect on our environment.

Sustainable business travel is concerned with managing the costs, social impacts and environmental consequences generated by the use of different modes of business travel. Using the GSTC Criteria as a reference point allows corporates and organizations to improve their commercial performance and enhance their reputation by adopting sustainable working policies and practices.

Sustainable Business Travel Course

“Many commentators are predicting continued massive reductions in the volume of business travel following the pandemic. This could be a result of companies looking at ways to minimize levels of travel (or at least minimum growth) to save costs and reduce CO2. It’s a very tempting scenario!” says Horst Bayer, Chair of the GSTC Business Travel Working Group. “The new GSTC Sustainable Business Travel course will look to answer the question if that is the right thing to do, and if so, how.”

The 4-week online GSTC Sustainable Business Travel course uses the four pillars of sustainable management to look at how to create a new model for business travel that harnesses the real value of a pro-active and successful business travel program, respects the new needs of travel and creates a responsible, sustainable company. In other words, a balanced approach to sustainable business travel. The course fulfills the training requirement towards earning the GSTC Professional Certificate in Sustainable Business Travel.

Upcoming GSTC Sustainable Business Travel courses:

Watch the webinar recording