GBTA Welcomes EU Tourism Strategy’s Vision for Sustainable and Competitive Travel
GBTA endorses the EU's new Sustainable Tourism Strategy, noting its own Procurement Standards are referenced in the Strategy's Working Document, and calls for managed business travel's inclusion in implementation.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has welcomed the European Union’s new Sustainable Tourism Strategy, which focuses on strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability and resilience while enhancing the travel experience across the region.
The Strategy aligns closely with priorities long championed by GBTA, including multimodal connectivity, greater digitalisation and data sharing, streamlined travel processes, and the development of scalable lower-carbon travel solutions. As implementation moves forward, GBTA believes managed business travel can play a valuable role in helping transform these objectives into measurable outcomes.
Corporate travel programmes, travel management companies, meetings and events professionals, and travel technology providers are uniquely positioned to aggregate demand, influence procurement decisions, and accelerate the adoption of innovative, more sustainable travel solutions at scale. Their inclusion in the next phase of implementation will be essential to ensuring the Strategy delivers practical, positive results across Europe’s travel ecosystem.
The EU has set a welcome direction by connecting sustainability with competitiveness, resilience and a more seamless travel experience.
We are particularly encouraged to see GBTA’s Sustainable Procurement Standards referenced in the Strategy’s Working Document, demonstrating the role they can play in helping to drive greener practices across the tourism value chain. We now have a unique opportunity to turn this Strategy’s ambitions into workable, practical and measurable solutions for organisations and travellers alike.
Managed business travel can aggregate demand, accelerate lower-carbon choices and help scale innovation across the European travel ecosystem. We look forward to working closely with EU institutions and broader stakeholders to ensure the policy framework supports seamless, sustainable business travel, which continues to drive European economic growth and global competitiveness.
Delphine Millot, Senior Vice President, Advocacy and Sustainability, GBTA
To deliver the strategy, the European Commission has announced the establishment of a new EU Tourism Alliance which will bring together national, regional and local authorities, tourism businesses and stakeholders.
About GBTA
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings trade organization serving stakeholders across six continents. GBTA and its 9,000+ members represent and advocate for the $1.57 trillion global business travel and meetings industry. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver 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. For more information, visit GBTA.org and GBTAFoundation.org.
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