American Express Global Business Travel has joined the
Global Sustainable Tourism Council, a standard-setting and accreditation
alliance created jointly by the United Nations and a number of environmental
conservation organisations, the company announced.
As a member of the GSTC, Amex GBT will initially focus on
highlighting and promoting hotels that meet sustainability standards to
corporate clients of its Global Business Consulting advisory during their
sourcing activities. Future plans call for the TMC to incorporate GSTC
sustainability analytics into clients' booking process to enable travellers to
identify and select GSTC-approved hotels. With GBT clients collectively booking
"millions" of room nights each year, the total environmental impact
of driving more sustainable sourcing and bookings "could be massive",
according to the TMC.
The GSTC membership is the latest sustainability-focused
step GBT has taken in 2021, following the January rollout of a carbon-offset
purchase programme for corporate clients and the appointment of its first
global sustainability vice president in April.
Amex GBT is on stand BTSC120 at Business Travel Show Europe at ExCeL London.