Alexandria, VA | The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee today offered a preview of the enhanced NBTA CSR Toolkit, created to help companies launch and effectively execute travel-related corporate social responsibility initiatives. The reformatted toolkit, designed as an interactive resource guide rather than a printed publication, offers corporations added insights into emerging CSR concepts.

Leilani Latimer, vice chair of the NBTA CSR Committee, said, “As companies begin implementing environmental sustainability and duty of care principles in their travel programs to enhance their broad CSR initiatives, they will find extreme value in using the NBTA CSR Toolkit. The advanced version is intended for beginners and experts alike thanks to its modular design; travel management professionals can use the entire toolkit or just the chapters that interest them.”

In the updated CSR Toolkit, corporate travel managers are provided with various solutions to achieve the maximum value of a business trip in supporting demand management while simultaneously promoting high-value business travel. Integrating technologies such as video web meetings and telepresence systems into a sustainable travel management program and measuring all travel options are part and parcel of the new toolkit.

Responsible procurement is also a key component of the new toolkit as buyers are urged to influence vendors to innovate products and services with sustainability characteristics. Questions that address suppliers’ sustainability credentials are provided and organized by travel sector, such as airlines, ground transportation, and meetings and events. A vendor response evaluation process is also provided.

NBTA CSR Committee member Mary Ellen George added, “While environmental protection is an important element of corporate social responsibility, updates to the CSR toolkit provide guidance and examples of other vital elements corporations can consider when choosing components that best fit their need for balanced corporate mobility, sustainability and cost effectiveness, especially in today’s trying times.”

To NBTA’s CSR efforts, the association this year worked with Green Globe Productions, an eco-responsible event production company, to implement enhanced socially responsible elements into the annual Convention and future NBTA events. And, for the second year in a row, NBTA will be offsetting the carbon footprint of the annual Convention with Carbonfund.org, who this year for the first time has provided a link directly from the Convention web site for attendees to calculate and reduce their own carbon footprint produced by travel to the Convention. Please visit to learn more about NBTA Convention green efforts.

The enhanced CSR toolkit will be available on USB drive wrist bands to attendees of the 2009 NBTA Convention at Discover NBTA booth (#1127). The CSR Committee will offer a detailed look at the enhanced toolkit in Educational Session TA11 – CSR, Sustainability & Travel: Doing More with Less, to be held Tuesday, August 25 at 8:30 a.m. in the San Diego Convention Center. The toolkit will also be available on NBTA’s website: .

About the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition | Widely recognized as the must-attend event for business travel buyers, suppliers, industry leaders and business travel journalists, the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition will be held in San Diego August 23-26, 2009. More than 5,000 travel professionals are expected to take advantage of the Convention’s programming, designed to empower attendees to maximize value for their companies, including more than 65 seminars on the most important topics in business travel, more than 400 companies exhibiting in the Expo and countless opportunities for networking with peers. For details, visit .

About the Global Business Travel Association

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA's members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA delivers world-class education, events, research, advocacy, and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts.

About the GBTA Foundation

The mission of the GBTA Foundation, the US 501c3 charitable arm of GBTA, is to help the global business travel industry create a positive impact and a better future for people and the planet. The GBTA Foundation focuses on the strategy and execution of GBTA's global sustainability programs, supporting initiatives related to climate action; diversity, equity and inclusion; and other talent-related topics via education, research and advocacy.

Nicole Hayes
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GBTA