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The Missing Sustainability Link
Intentional Traveller Behaviour base-line Survey

When we travel for work, we’re often under pressure – tight schedules, long days, unfamiliar environments.

This survey isn’t about blame or perfection. It’s about understanding the everyday choices travellers make, often without thinking about them, and how small shifts could make travel more intentional and sustainable, without much reduction to comfort.

With an estimated 4-5 Million business trips globally per day, small shifts in traveller behaviour could have a massive positive impact, helping to reduce the damage of business travel on the environment.

There are no right or wrong answers on this survey – just honest ones. And we thank you!

This survey will take 7-9 minutes to complete. Respondents are anonymous and responses will be used for statistical data only, as part of ABTA's "Intentional Traveller Behaviour" project.

Next steps in the project will include additional input from travel suppliers (Airlines, hotels etc) on where they notice traveller behaviours that cause unnecessary waste. Coupled with these survey results, ABTA will provide a variety of resources, including a white-paper and 'behavioural shift' content that travellers can use to be more intentional on their business trips. In 2027, we will release a new survey and benchmark against this baseline survey to see if we have managed to have the positive impact we are hoping for.

This project is a first of its kind globally, and we thank you for your participation. If you find this as exciting as we do, and you would like to get more involved, feel free to email monique@abta.co.za for more details.
1.Which region are you primarily based in?(Required.)
2.What best describes your seniority level?(Required.)
3.Which Industry do you work in?(Required.)
4.What is the approximate size of your organisation in employee numbers?(Required.)
5.How frequently do you travel for work?(Required.)
6.What is your age group?(Required.)
7.Before today, how familiar were you with the idea of “intentional traveller behaviour”?(Required.)
8.When travelling for work, who do you feel is most responsible for reducing the environmental impact of your business trips? Please select the top 3 responsible parties, in your opinion.(Required.)
9.When travelling for work, how often do you consciously think about the environmental impact of your actions?(Required.)
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
10.When you do think about your environmental impact while travelling, what typically prompts you to do so?(Required.)
11.What best describes your mindset when travelling for work? (Select one)(Required.)
12.When staying in a hotel (or guesthouse) for work, how often do you:(Required.)
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Leave air-conditioning or heating on when not in the room
Override the air-con timer or temperature setting, set by the hotel
Take longer showers than you would at home
Bath instead of shower
Run hot water in the bathroom to steam your clothes
Request fresh towels daily
Request fresh linen daily
Leave lights or TV on when leaving the room
Leave devices on to charge overnight
Use single-use toiletries even when you don’t finish them
Take unused hotel toiletries home with you
Send lightly-worn clothes to be laundered
Use the kettle for anything other than making coffee, tea etc (Eg. Cooking noodles, boiling eggs etc)
13.Thinking about food when travelling for work, how often do you:(Required.)
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Take more food than you end up eating at a buffet
Take food from the buffet away with you
Leave partially finished water bottles behind at events
Eat only part of an airline meal
Accept food or snacks even when not hungry
Take condiments (butter, sugar sachets etc) home with you
Dispose of food without knowing if it can be composted, recycled or donated
14.If you tend to take more food than you end up eating when travelling, what usually influences this?
(Select all that apply)(Required.)
15.Did you know that food (air, hotel etc) that is not partially eaten or opened can be donated to food programmes by some airlines and hotels?(Required.)
16.When travelling for work, how often do you:(Required.)
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
Use single-use plastic bottles rather than refilling
Accept plastic cutlery, cups or straws by default
Dispose of waste without separating recyclables
Avoid recycling bins because you’re unsure what goes where
17.What would make it easier for you to reduce plastic use while travelling?(Required.)
18.How often do you print travel documents like Boarding passes, Hotel confirmations, Meeting agendas, Expense receipts?(Required.)
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
19.Why do you think you do this, when digital options are available?(Required.)
20.When travelling short distances (1-2 km) while on a business trip, which do you tend to do most often?(Required.)
21.When hiring a rental car for work, what usually influences your choice?(Required.)
22.If electric or hybrid vehicles were available at the same price, and these were inline with company policy, would you choose them?
23.How often do you pack more luggage than you end up using on a work trip?(Required.)
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
24.What drives overpacking for you?(Required.)
25.Before taking this survey, how much thought had you given to the cumulative impact of small travel behaviours?(Required.)
26.After completing this survey, how open would you be to making small, practical changes to your travel habits?(Required.)
27.Would it be helpful to you to have a resource listing behaviours to be avoided, their cumulative effect, and convenient alternatives?(Required.)
28.Do you have any comments or ideas that you would like to add?