Press Release

For Immediate Release
6 May 2008

ACTE AND DUNTON TINNUS CONSULTING CSR WHITEPAPER PRESENTED AT TTRA EUROPEAN CHAPTER CONFERENCE 2008

Alexandria, Va. -- The whitepaper, Carbon Neutrality – An integral part of the corporate travel supply-chain, based on the results of a global survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), was presented by Christine Dunton-Tinnus, ACTE Regional Director Western, Southern and West Central Europe, at the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) 2008 Global Conference. The event took place at the HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Finland on 23 April 2008.

“This is a great honor for ACTE and reaffirms our commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility, an initiative which has been part of our charter for the last three years,” Marie Morice, ACTE Director for Global CSR, said. “By working in partnership with other global associations such as TTRA, the business travel industry can make a measurable and positive impact on the environment.”

The whitepaper offers global guidelines for integrating carbon neutrality into corporate travel management and procurement processes. Facilitated by Dunton Tinnus Consulting and 3C in collaboration with the ACTE Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee, the survey’s purpose was to obtain insights relating to sustainable business travel practices from both corporate travel buyers and industry suppliers.

KEY SURVEY FINDINGS:

Carbon neutrality = top management priority

• 84.4 percent of the surveyed corporations believe that sustainable travel will become an important management goal for the travel industry in the near future and nearly 50 percent would be willing to pay a higher price for low carbon travel services. 
• At the same time, 74.8 percent replied that they do not measure greenhouse gas emissions related to travel activities 
• 52.9 percent of the suppliers do not offer green products or services to their customers

 

Carbon neutrality as a key to profitability…

• Almost 80 percent of surveyed suppliers agree that the ability to offer low carbon products and services will become a key supplier selection criteria

 

…but based on global survey lack of information is still a challenge

• More than 57 percent of the surveyed suppliers feel they do not have enough information to respond effectively to RFPs including “green” criteria and 
• More than 70 percent are unable to consult their corporate clients regarding environmental issues related to corporate travel.

 

TTRA Scientific Committee-accepted whitepapers and case studies were published in the TTRA European Chapter Conference 2008 Proceedings.  A selection of the best papers will be published in the Scandinavian Journal of Tourism, Society for Tourism Research in Finland Journal or HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences Research Series.

The Tourism Research Centre, Dublin Institute of Technology, recently requested a copy of the whitepaper for a conference in Canada.

The whitepaper can be accessed by visiting http://www.acte.org/events/Munich07/Presentations/Whitepaper_ACTE_DTc_3C_Oct22_2007.pdf.

For learn more about ACTE CSR initiatives, please go to http://www.acte.org/initiatives/CSR.php.

ABOUT ACTE:
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) represents the global business travel industry through its international advocacy efforts, executive level educational programs, and independent industry research. ACTE's membership consists of senior travel industry executives from 82 countries representing the €200 billion business travel industry. With the support of sponsors from every major segment of the business travel industry, ACTE develops and delivers educational programs in key business centers throughout the world. ACTE has offices in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and the United States. For more information on ACTE, please go to www.acte.org.

ABOUT TTRA:
The Travel and Tourism Research Association -TTRA is a leading international network of over 800 professional in tourism and travel research and marketing. Founded in 1970, the organization and its members have been to the forefront of the development and application of travel and tourism related marketing information and research. TTRAs membership in over 20 countries worldwide includes both practitioners and educators offering unique networking opportunities. The objective of the European Chapter of Travel and Tourism Research Association is to create forums for the exchange of ideas and knowledge between tourism researchers and the tourism industry. For more information on TTRA, please go to http://www.ttra-europe.org/.

#  #  #

For more information, contact:
Debbie Flynn
CEO
Brighter Group
The Pod, London's Vertical Gateway
Bridges Wharf, Battersea
London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
F: 020 7326 9890
E: [email protected]
W: www.brightergroup.com