Expect Climate Change to Finally Drive More Corp Travel Decisions Post-Pandemic

Climate change, rather than the pandemic, will drive the latest business travel trend tipped for next year — the cluster meeting. These are meetings that will have the lowest carbon emissions possible at their core, rather than restrictions dictated by coronavirus, and they'll mostly avoid flying. For an international company planning a large gathering, for example, employees will head to regional points (ideally by train) in their respective countries, with virtual technology joining them up globally. Two travel technology companies, Troop and Thrust Carbon, are at the vanguard of this movement. The latter, in particular, is forging ahead with new corporate travel agencies tie-ups, Skift has learned, helping them to calculate detailed carbon impacts. Troop is continuing its efforts to alter traditional booking behavior at the planning stage, rather than point of booking, as the wider industry becomes engulfed in hype following symbolic events like World Environment Day and the G7 summit. Offset Versus Avoid Companies are already becoming more tactical when they organize get-togethers, according to Troop, which in April said it had tripled its customer base and revenue over the past 12 months. In a recent case study for a planned 300-person event for a Fortune 10 customer, it calculated that a cluster meeting generated 84 percent cost savings, a 73 percent reduction in carbon emissions and a 72 percent reduction in time. It claimed the cut in emissions was equivalent to the same amount of carbon that 35 people living in the UK would produce over the course of one year, while the time saved was equivalent to six months’ worth of working days. “The most transformative thing you can do in your travel policy is meet in clusters,” said Spencer Brace, Troop’