Dear BCD Travel-customer,

Travel green or travel cheap ?

Lately lots of discussion about reducing pollution and C02 emissions have been going on. This also involves business travel and consequently suppliers for air, train, car, hotels etc. 

If we take a closer look at business travel; what has actually happened in spite of well intentioned pollution and C02 emission talk ? 

The answer to this question is: Nothing or at least almost nothing.

Some of the mentioned suppliers have worked on branding green profiles – some from a marketing perspective, others because they really want to reduce pollution. The majority probably have a wish to achieve both. 

Suppliers who invest in lower pollution do not necessarily benefit from doing so, as most companies do not take such initiatives into consideration when choosing a supplier. This is probably the primary obstacle that the suppliers face. 

At the closing of a negotiation, we have never heard a company saying “supplier A is EUR 100 more expensive than Supplier B, but since Supplier A has a greener profile than Supplier B, we choose Supplier A”. It seems that discussions about CO2 emissions etc., are put aside when negotiating. 

Even though we had all hoped for something else, we do understand this. Increased costs will weaken the competitiveness.

Therefore, we believe that the only solution is a clear and positive public preferential for suppliers who invest in environmental friendliness. Only if such investments are rewarded, suppliers will be encouraged to continue their initiatives to protect the environment.

Therefore, we think that airline companies, train companies, hotels, car rental companies etc. should be punished respectively rewarded depending on how much or little they pollute. In this way it will be possible to influence each supplier’s competitiveness. The overall goal is less pollution.

Yours sincerely,
Lars Dissing
Commercial Director
BCD Travel Nordic Region