Smarter Business Travel Starts with Better Decisions 

Business travel plays an important role in building relationships, supporting international operations and bringing people together. The challenge is not simply whether organisations should travel, but how each journey can be planned and managed more consciously. 

There is rarely one perfect or completely sustainable way to travel significant distances. What organisations can do is give travel managers and employees the information, policies and practical options they need to make better decisions. 

Sometimes that might mean taking the train rather than flying. On another journey, it could mean choosing a direct flight, combining several meetings into one trip or selecting a supplier that is making credible progress on reducing its environmental impact. 

The most important step is to make these choices visible. 

Better decisions begin with better data 

For many organisations, travel emissions data remains fragmented across booking tools, expense systems and multiple providers. Different calculation methods can produce inconsistent results, making it difficult to understand the true impact of a travel programme or identify where improvements should be made. 

Bringing travel information together and applying a consistent methodology creates a clearer picture. Rather than looking only at the overall footprint at the end of the year, organisations can explore emissions across flights, rail journeys, hotels and ground transport. They can also examine the impact of particular journeys, departments, traveller groups and booking behaviours. 

This is the thinking behind ATPI Halo’s measurement approach. Working with emissions intelligence specialist Thrust Carbon, ATPI provides granular, audit-ready reporting across travel and events. The aim is not simply to produce another report, but to turn the information into practical recommendations that travel managers can use. 

Accurate measurement establishes a starting point. The real value comes from what happens next. 

Look for the opportunities hidden in the journey 

Once organisations understand where their travel emissions are being generated, they can focus their attention on the areas where change is realistic. 

This might include identifying short-haul flights that can be replaced by rail, reducing multi-leg flight connections where possible, or examining whether multiple individual trips could be combined into one longer and more productive journey. 

One ATPI client used their travel data to examine significant trip volumes between London and Paris. This insight supported the introduction of a rail-first policy, with Eurostar subsequently accounting for more than 80% of travel between the two cities. It is a practical example of how better information can lead to a measurable change in traveller behaviour. 

Not every route has a straightforward rail alternative, of course. For organisations operating internationally or moving people to remote and complex locations, flying may remain essential. In these circumstances, the data can still reveal opportunities. 

A direct flight may produce a better outcome than a journey involving several connections. It may also reduce disruption risk, traveller fatigue and the hidden cost of time spent in transit. Cabin policy, advance booking, supplier selection and the timing of a trip can all influence its environmental and operational impact. 

Smarter travel decisions therefore do not have to be presented as sacrifices. In many cases, the option that reduces emissions can also improve efficiency, wellbeing or cost control. ATPI’s published guidance highlights modal shift, careful supplier selection and cabin policies as areas where organisations may be able to reduce emissions without necessarily increasing their travel budget. 

Make the responsible choice easier to see 

Providing annual emissions figures to a sustainability team is useful, but it does not necessarily influence choices being made at the time of booking. 

That is why visibility during the booking process matters. Showing estimated emissions alongside available travel options helps employees understand that two apparently similar journeys may have very different environmental impacts. 

For some travellers, this information provides a simple prompt to reconsider a flight or route. For organisations with established environmental targets, it can support firmer travel policies, preferred suppliers and approval processes. 

The objective should not be to place the entire responsibility on the individual traveller. Employees are more likely to make conscious choices when those choices are supported by clear guidance and practical alternatives. 

Travel managers can help by: 

• making rail the preferred option on suitable routes; 

• encouraging direct rather than connecting flights where practical; 

• reviewing when business-class travel is genuinely necessary; 

• promoting longer, multipurpose trips instead of several short visits; and 

• including emissions alongside cost, journey time and traveller wellbeing when assessing an itinerary. 

ATPI’s approach allows comparative information on routes and modes of transport to be used alongside account management expertise, helping organisations translate their environmental objectives into workable programme decisions. 

Work with suppliers rather than around them 

Travel buyers and travellers cannot transform the environmental performance of the industry alone. Progress depends heavily on the airlines, rail operators, hotels, ground transport providers and technology companies that deliver each part of the journey. 

Supplier selection should therefore consider more than availability and price. Organisations can ask what environmental targets a supplier has established, how progress is measured and whether its claims are supported by transparent evidence. 

Data can help buyers compare available options, but collaboration is equally important. By discussing sustainability priorities with travel providers and incorporating them into procurement processes, organisations can demonstrate demand for lower-emission services and encourage further investment. 

ATPI’s sustainability model combines travel data with supplier relationships and specialist partnerships. Its consultants can use comparative route and transport information to identify reduction opportunities, while its wider partner network supports action in areas where organisations cannot make changes through traveller behaviour alone. 

Address the impact of unavoidable flying 

Even a well-designed travel programme will continue to include journeys that cannot realistically be avoided or transferred to another form of transport. 

Sustainable Aviation Fuel, commonly known as SAF, offers one way for organisations to address part of the impact of essential air travel within the aviation sector itself. 

SAF can be produced from renewable waste and residue materials and used within existing aircraft engineering and fuelling infrastructure. Depending on the feedstock and production process, it can deliver lifecycle greenhouse-gas reductions of up to 80% compared with conventional fossil jet fuel. However, its availability remains limited, and its cost is currently higher, meaning continued investment and increased demand are necessary to help the market scale. 

Through its partnership with Neste, ATPI enables organisations to support SAF through a bulk purchase linked to a proportion of their aviation emissions or through a contribution applied to individual transactions. This gives businesses a way to incorporate SAF into their wider travel emissions strategy, even when the physical fuel is not available at the traveller’s departure airport. 

SAF should not replace efforts to avoid or reduce emissions. Instead, it can sit alongside smarter routing, modal shift, responsible supplier selection and better travel planning as part of a broader approach. 

Five actions to take now 

More conscious business travel is built through repeated, informed decisions rather than a single initiative. Organisations can begin by taking five practical steps: 

1. Establish a reliable baseline 
   consolidate travel data and apply a consistent emissions calculation methodology. 

2. Find the areas of greatest impact 
   Examine routes, departments, cabin classes, suppliers and traveller behaviours rather than focusing only on one company-wide total. 

3. Make better options easy to choose 
   Provide emissions information during booking processes and build suitable rail, routing and cabin guidance into travel policy. 

4. Engage with suppliers 
   Ask for credible evidence of environmental progress and include sustainability within supplier reviews and procurement decisions. 

Act on unavoidable emissions 

Consider credible in-sector measures such as SAF as part of a strategy that prioritises measurement and reduction first. 

Travelling more consciously does not mean expecting every journey or every traveller to be perfect. It means providing clearer information, continuing to learn and making better choices wherever the opportunity exists. 

When measurement, technology, policy and supplier collaboration work together, sustainability becomes more than an annual reporting exercise. It becomes part of how everyday travel decisions are made.