Large travel programs fall behind as small companies push ahead in a shifting regulatory landscape
Nov 13, 2025
The GBTA Sustainability Acceleration Challenge, conducted with Accenture, found that global sustainability maturity rose only slightly year over year. Regional shifts, regulatory uncertainty, and inconsistent progress across company sizes continue to shape a fragmented sustainability landscape.
Key takeaways
- Slight global improvement: Overall sustainability maturity rose from 1.3 to 1.4 on GBTA’s five-point scale, reflecting incremental progress rather than broad advancement.
- Large programs losing ground: Companies with over $500 million in annual travel spend regressed in key areas such as reporting and target setting, weakening momentum at the top of the market.
- Small programs leading gains: Firms with less than $5 million in travel spend showed notable improvement, possibly using sustainability leadership as a differentiator.
- Regional variability: Maturity dipped slightly in Europe and North America due to regulatory uncertainty and economic headwinds, while Asia/Pacific and global programs gained modestly.
- Progress in core practices: Sustainability reporting improved from 2.1 to 2.7, and target-setting rose from 1.4 to 1.7; sustainable travel policies and carbon budgets also saw small gains.
- Slow uptake of SAF: Fifteen percent of companies purchased SAF certificates in 2025, up from 12 percent the year before.
- Stalled booking-related strategies: Carbon fees and sustainability insights in online booking tools remain underused, limiting companies’ ability to enforce sustainable travel policies.
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