New research from the European Travel Commission tracked how 3,000 long-haul leisure travellers to Europe actually travelled. The findings are worth reading carefully, because they describe a shift in travel behaviour that's happening in leisure travel that gives us potential insight into business travel.
The headline number: the share of long-haul visitors using predominantly low-emission transport – trains, public transit, cycling, walking – rose from 13% to 18% between 2024 and 2025. Fossil fuel reliance dropped from 35% to 30%. This happened while sustainability was receiving less media attention than in previous years, not more.
The ETC's conclusion is that the shift is experiential. Travellers are choosing slower, greener options. But not because they've been persuaded by climate arguments. Travellers are already climate conscious. So what's blocking that percentage from being even higher?
Disparate or complicated booking systems are limiting sustainable travel
The same report identifies exactly where this behaviour fails to translate further. Fragmented rail booking systems are named explicitly as a barrier. Travellers who want to take the train don't know how to book it. Forum discussions show people comparing Skyscanner favourably to whatever they'd need to navigate European rail ticketing.
‘What would be the best apps to use for comparing rail and bus prices? For flights, I use Skyscanner’ (Reddit)
The practical friction is the problem – not the values. We see this pattern in business travel too.
The business travel version of the same problem
A business traveller travelling between London to Paris isn't going to go out of their way to research rail options before booking. But if rail appeared first in the booking tool, or they were nudged towards rail options, and required no extra steps – they'd take it.
In many cases where air-to-rail shift is feasible, it’s also the better experience: reliable train wifi, city- centre-to-city-centre travel, and a productive work environment, all at a similar total transit time. The ETC's own recommendation is to frame responsible choices around convenience and experience, not just carbon.
What this means in practice
Many travel programmes recommend rail for journeys under 4 hours in their policy, but 46% of business travellers don’t check their policy before booking. To shift behaviour to follow this policy, it’s about building awareness, removing the booking friction, and highlighting the benefits of traveller experience. This could mean waiting for system-level change across the industry, or we think there's an easier way...
If your organisation is working on air-to-rail specifically, EngageAI identifies the right travellers and routes, intervenes at the point of decision, and leads with the experience.
About the author
Josh Loyd
Founder's Associate, Thrust Carbon
Josh works across marketing and commercial operations at Thrust Carbon. He writes about corporate travel and sustainability — and wishes he was also writing a food blog.