At the end of the first-ever Green Travel Summit, a group of executives exploring in the environmental impact of corporate travel identified the biggest obstacles to traveling smarter, and less often.

As with so many environmental initiatives, the first challenge deal with knowing where to begin. Identifying a goal and laying out a road map for progress can be a paralyzing process for green travel initiatives.

Concerns about costs for shifting travel plans and the return on investment were also identified as obstacles, as well as overcoming resistance to change at all levels of the organization. Getting the buy-in from senior management and travel planners were considered key for a successful green travel strategy.

Once those roadblocks have been overcome, securing funding for alternatives to business travel remains a hurdle, and explaining the rationales and benefits for employees whose travel plans will be impacted is fundamental to ensure success for greening travel.

The full list of the ten challenges to greening corporate travel is below; more information is online at GreenTravelSummit.com.

1. Where to begin
2. Perception vs. reality regarding costs.
3. Overcoming resistance to change.
4. Buy-in from senior management.
5. Getting a better understanding of green travel's ROI.
6. Securing budget.
7. Reporting standards and metrics.
8. Green washing: Truth vs. fiction.
9. Buy-in from both the planner and the supplier.
10. Communicating and educating all relative stakeholders.

Airplane photos CC-licensed by Flickr users lrargerich and *Zara.