Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

HANDBOOK ON TOURISM

DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT

KERRI HAYDEN COLLINS

EDITOR

Copyright © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher.

 

For permission to use material from this book please contact us:

[e-mail]

NOTICE TO THE READER

The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works.

 

Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication.

 

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS.

 

Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

ISBN: 978-1-63463-672-8(eBook)

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

Chapter 3

SUSTAINABILITY: A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

Patricia Martínez Garcia de Leaniz 

and Ignacio Rodríguez del Bosque†

University of Cantabria, Spain

ABSTRACT

At present, sustainability issues attract the attention of academic and professionals around the world. In the tourism industry, this interest is even greater due to the negative impacts such as air and noise pollution, biodiversity loss, waste generation, noncompliance with fundamental labour standards, etc... that this industry cause because of an unmanaged growth and development. In today´s rapidly changing tourism market, the only possibility for tourism companies to compete on the market is through offering distinguished sustainable product and services. Tourism companies should be able to create the tourism product while operating in a sustainable and responsible way. By implementing socially responsible initiatives, tourism companies can contribute to the achievement of sustainable tourism. This study is aimed at exploring the importance of sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry.

INTRODUCTION

With more than one billion international arrivals recorded in 2013 tourism is a major global activity that has grown by 25% in the past 20 years (WTO, 2013). Predicted growth rates remain high and, although global and regional patterns have fluctuated from year to year (most recently owing to fears over terrorism, health crises and natural disasters), tourism has shown a strong and rapid ability to recover. More and more people have the desire and means to travel and the World Tourism Organization is predicting over 1.500 million international arrivals by 2020 (WTO, 2014).

However, tourism has major impacts on the natural environment and on the well-being and culture of host populations (e.g., global warming, environmental degradation, habitat destruction, air and water pollution, resources depletion, non-compliance with fundamental labor standards, growth of prostitution …). However, there is also an increasing appreciation of the potential role of tourism in addressing world poverty and other social problems, by bringing sources of income to some of the poorest communities. That is why the concept of sustainable development (or sustainability) in the tourism industry has become widely accepted as the way to get a better future for this sector.

Tourism can play a significant role in sustainable development. As the Worl Tourim Organization suggests: “ sustainable tourism is not a discrete or special form of tourism. Rather, all forms of tourism should strive to be more sustainable” (WTO, 2005, pp. 2). However, making tourism more sustainable is not just about controlling and managing its negative impacts. This industry has a great potential to benefit local communities, both economically and socially, and to raise awareness and support for conservation of the environment. Within this sector economic development and environmental protection should not be seen as opposing forces. They should be pursued hand in hand as aspirations that can (and should) be mutually reinforcing.

With regard to this, a number of different stakeholders can benefit from sustainable tourism. First, tourism companies, while seeking long term profitability they should be concerned about their corporate image and reputation, the relationship with their staff and their impact on the global environment. Secondly, local communities are seeking increased prosperity but without exploitation or damage to their quality of life. Thirdly, environmental groups are concerned about the harmful impacts of tourism but also see this industry as a valuable source of income for conservation. Finally, tourists are seeking for a high quality experience in safe and attractive environments. This collective is becoming more and more aware of the impacts of their travelling.

The tourism industry has a special influence to contribute to sustainability and the challenges it presents. Firstly, it is mainly because of the dynamism and growth of this sector and the major contribution that it makes to the economies of many countries and local destinations. Secondly, it is because tourism is an activity which involves a special relationship between visitors (consumers), the businesses, the natural environment and the local communities. This special relationship arises because ―the consumer of tourism travels to the producer and the product‖ (WTO, 2005, pp. 9). According to the United Nations Environment Programme, this leads to three major aspects of the relationship between tourism and sustainable development:

· Interaction: The nature of tourism, as a service industry that is based on delivering an experience of new places, means that it involves a considerable amount of interaction between visitors, host and local communities and their local environments.

· Dependency: Much of tourism is based on visitors seeking to experience undamaged and clean environments, attractive natural areas and genuine historic and cultural traditions. Therefore, this industry highly depends on these attributes. This close relationship creates a sensitive context, whereby tourism can be both very damaging but also very positive for sustainability.

· Awareness: The tourism industry makes people, both visitors and hosts, become more conscious of environmental issues and differences between nations and cultures. This situation can affect attitudes and concerns for sustainable development issues not only during the travel experience but throughout people´s lives.

 

On the positive side, tourism can:

 

1) Provide a growing source of opportunities for enterprise development and employment creation as well as stimulating investment and support for local services,

2) bring tangible economic value to natural and social-cultural resources (this can result in direct income from visitor spending for their conservation and an increase in support for conservation from local communities), and

3) be a force for inter-cultural understanding and peace.

 

On the contrary, tourism industry can:

 

1) Place pressure on fragile ecosystems causing degradation of the natural environment and disruption to wildlife,

2) exert considerable pressure on host communities and lead to dislocation of traditional societies,

3) compete for the use of scarce resources (e.g., land and water),

4) be a significant contributor to local and global pollution,

5) be a vulnerable and unstable source of income since it is often very sensitive to actual or perceived changes to the environmental and social conditions of destinations.

 

Tourism companies that address economic, social and environmental issues and are aware of the potential for both harm and benefit can control the forces resulting from the sector´s growth in a positive direction. For tourism, the acceptance of this responsibility should be stimulated by a strong component of self-interest since any harm that is caused to the natural, cultural or social environments of destinations can lead to their destruction or loss of value as a tourism product.

The structure of this chapter is as follows. A literature review about the roots of the sustainable development concept is presented as well as a description about the suitability of this approach to generate competitive advantages in the tourism sector. Secondly, the component dimensions of sustainable development are listed in order to identify specific areas of action for managers. Thirdly, it is emphasized the importance for tourism companies to develop a responsible behaviour by describing the negative and positive impacts of this industry in each of the three domains previously identified. To conclude, some key challenges for more sustainable tourism as well as an agenda to implement sustainable tourism are presented.

Tourism sector

Year Event

1980 World Conservation Strategy

1980 Manila Declaration on World Tourism

1985 Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code

1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our common

future

1989 The Hague Declaration on Tourism

1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

1995 The Charter for Sustainable Tourism

1996 Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry

1997 Declaration on Biological Diversity and Sustainable Tourism

1997 Calviá Declaration on Tourism and Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean

1997 Manila Declaration on the Social Impact of Tourism

1999 Decisions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Sustainable Development

1999 Global Code of Ethics for Tourism

2000 Principles for the implementation of sustainable tourism

2001 Quebec Declaration on Ecotourism

2001 Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development

2002 Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development

2003 Convention on Biological Diversity, Guidelines on Biodiversity and Tourism

Development

2003 Djerba Declaration on Tourism and Climate Change

2008 Climate Change and Tourism

2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

2012 Conference on Sustainable Development of Tourism in Islands

2012 International Conference on Tourism, Climate Change and Sustainability

2013 International Conference: Sustainability issues and challenges in tourism

2014 Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference

Source: Compiled by authors.

Sustainability Dimensions

 

As we already set out, the conception of SD has evolved beyond natural capital, taking other aspects of human development into account. The concept has included economic, social and environmental considerations of sustainability, the idea of all society‘s sectors participating in taking decisions and differentiating the responsibilities of poor and rich countries (Meadowcroft, 2000). Three issues tend to be distinguished in SD (Linnanen and Panapanaan, 2002; Wempe and Kaptein, 2002; Ayuso and Fullana, 2002; van Marrewijk, 2003; van Marrewijk and Werre, 2003; Panwar et al., 2006):

· Environmental sustainability, which must ensure that development is compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity and natural resources

· Social and cultural sustainability, which must ensure that sustainable development increases the individuals‘ control over their lives, is compatible with people‘s values and culture and maintains and strengthens communities‘ identities

· Economic sustainability, which must ensure that development is economically efficient, benefits all agents in the affected region and the resources are managed so that they are conserved for future generations

 

The factors involved in CSR can be identified from the conceptual model provided by the SD model (Linnanen and Panapanaan, 2002; Wempe and Kaptein, 2002; van Marrewijk, 2003; van Marrewijk and Werre, 2003; Panwar et al., 2006). Figure 1 summarises the different conceptions of CSR, according to the approaches in the sustainable development model. All of them are founded on the ― triple bottom line ‖, which was broken down by Panwar et al. (2006) into its respective dimensions.

To properly illustrate the model and its dimensions, the definitions of each of them proposed by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO, 2005) are presented below. The economic dimension is based on ensuring viable long-term economic activity, which provides correctly-distributed socioeconomic benefits for all agents. The social dimension refers to respecting the sociocultural authenticity of the host communities, conserving their architectural and living cultural assets and their traditional values, and contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance. Lastly, the environmental dimension refers to optimally using environmental resources, which are a core element in tourist development, protecting essential ecological processes and helping conserve natural resources and biological diversity.

In previous models, the authors reinforced the conception of CSR as a multidimensional construct, placing equal emphasis on economic, social and environmental issues. As mentioned, this focus is closely connected to another concept: “ The Triple Bottom Line” (Elkingtong, 1998) (Figure 2), through which the standard prosperity line (utility) should be parallel to the lines of the planet (environment) and people (society). This perspective emphasises the need to adopt ideas of corporate ethics and the importance of stakeholders, above and beyond that of the owners, investors and shareholders (Schmidheiny et al., 1997). Fundamental aspects of SD, such as respect for the individual and society, along with environmental conservation, frequently refer to this triple prosperity line, which encompasses social and environment returns, as well as economic ones. In this regard, the company‘s actions toward sustainable development can be separated into the different spheres depicted in Figure 2.

Source: Panwar et al. (2006).

Source: Linnanen and Panapanaan (2002).

Source: Wempe and Kaptein (2002).

Figure 1. CSR conceptions based on the sustainable development focus.

Source: Elkingtong (1998).

Figure 2. The Triple Bottom Line.

 

According to Olabe (2002) (Figure 3), sustainability-oriented companies conceive of their long-term actions as interrelated spheres of influence and scopes of action. In the smallest sphere (Sphere 4), companies have decision-taking power and their control over it is total. The next sphere (Sphere 3) contains all companies with which an intense business relationship is maintained. In the next sphere (Sphere 2), companies project their influence and participate in the local community in which they do business. And, in the last sphere (Sphere 1), companies interact with society at large. In this sphere, the values are expressed through which society formulates its aspirations toward a better quality of life and they are transferred to the other spheres mentioned.

From another perspective, but still employing the spheres identified in Figure 3, the European Commission Green Paper (2001), distinguishes two dimensions of CSR: the internal dimension, equivalent to the company sphere, and the external dimension, made up of the rest of the spheres. In the internal dimension, socially responsible practices primarily affect the employees in matters referring, on the one hand, to managing human resources, health and safety in the workplace and, on the other, the internal dimension also includes the management of the natural resources used in production.

However, and as mentioned, corporate social responsibility from the perspective of sustainable development extends from companies‘ perimeters outward to the environment and society, including a wide range of agents and partners (commercial partners, suppliers, consumers, public authorities, non-governmental organisations...). As anticipated, this perspective emphasises stakeholders‘ importance, above and beyond that of owners, investors and shareholders (Schmidheiny et al., 1997). Many authors support these focuses, particularly in the tourist scenario on which this work is centred. Henderson (2007, pp. 231) states that owing to the typical characteristics of tourism, an extra dimension should be added to CSR and sustainability: “ society is part of the product and companies have responsibilities with the societies and environments where they develop their activities. For this reason, it is probable that tourist service consumers are more sensitive to the adoption of CSR executed by companies in this activity sector. Even more so, if we recall that this trend has been supported by consumers‘ tastes, the environment movement, public organisations and demands for better management of tourism.”

As mentioned, the principles of SD have much in common with those of CSR and the terms are sometimes used indistinctly (Henderson, 2007). A company that seeks sustainable tourism is, by definition, socially responsible, while CSR contributes the fundamental principles of sustainability. According to Tourism Concern, an independent British organisation that fights tourist exploitation and favours its more ethical development, tourism‘s capacity to negatively impact the destination economies, their societies, cultures and environments have exposed the sector industries to heavy criticism, but we mustn‘t forget that this sector can supply extremely necessary infrastructures, revenues and jobs that stimulate the destination economies and raise their standard of living. This could strengthen the protection of the most mistreated resources and help finance their preservation (Henderson, 2007). Therefore, it would seem like tourist companies have serious and clear obligations to issues related to the places where they do business, so that many of them have to adhere to sustainable tourism types whose purpose is to safeguard cultural and natural heritage (Diamantis, 1999). In this respect, the UN Environment Programme (2005) highlights 12 targets to be integrated into the sustainable tourism agenda, providing general action lines for sector companies. These targets are economic viability, local prosperity, quality employment, social equality, the compliance of visitors, local control, the community‘s wellbeing, cultural wealth, physical integrity, biological diversity, resource efficiency and environmental purity.

 

 

 

Source: Green paper EU Commission (2001) and Olabe (2002).

Figure 3. Spheres of action of a socially responsible company.

 

 

Managing Dynamic Growth

The increase in international tourist movements predicted for the next years will bring considerable pressures. In order to avoid damaging the resources on which tourism depends, this growth must be well managed. This will require careful planning of the location and types of new development, improved environmental management practices and influencing consumption patterns. In this sense, certain types of location (e.g., marine and coastal environments, historic towns and cities, cultural heritage sites, fragile natural environments …) are particularly vulnerable to pressure.

Climate Change

This phenomenon is a major issue for the long term sustainability of tourism in two senses: climate change will have consequences for tourism and tourism is a contributor to climate change. The effects of climate change (e.g., rising sea levels, increased frequency and energy of surges and storms, beach erosion, coral bleaching…) are threatening many coastal destinations. Mountain resorts will also suffer from rising snow lines and shortening winter sports seasons. Changes in temperature will affect market appeal in most parts of the world. Some of these impacts are already being felt. It is estimated that tourism may contribute up to 5.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with transport accounting for about 90% of the world´s total use of fossil fuels and up.

Poverty Alleviation

 

Halving world poverty by 2015 is the foremost UN Millennium Goal. The potential for the tourism industry to contribute to its reduction is increasingly recognized, partly because it is one of the few sectors in which poor countries´ socio-cultural and natural resources give them an economic advantage. The development of tourism provides a good opportunity to help alleviate poverty because it is often a new source of revenue in rural areas (where 75% of the world´s poor are to be found). The challenge is to find better ways of channeling tourist spending towards poor people.

Support for Conservation

The need for more financial resources to support conservation is a worldwide issue, although this problem varies from country to country. Protected areas in developing countries receive less than 30% of their basic funding needs. Tourism makes a major contribution to income for protected areas and heritage sites through entry fees, permits … and this can be extended. Moreover, this industry can become a force for more sustainable land management by providing an additional alternative form of livelihood for rural communities that are dependent on well maintained natural resources.

Health, Safety and Security

 

Uncertainty about the health and safety of travel of certain destinations has caused significant fluctuations in tourism flows in recent years. Although this may be a short term phenomenon and recovery is often fast, it should be regarded as a global issue for the sustainability of tourism. There are policy implications for image and management of information and for specific measures to improve the safety and security of tourist.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was funded by the FPU Scholarship Program provided by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.

REFERENCES

Ayuso, S. & Fullana, P. (2002), Turismo sostenible. Madrid: Rubes. [ … ]

 

HANDBOOK ON TOURISM

DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT

KERRI HAYDEN COLLINS

EDITOR

Copyright © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher.

 

For permission to use material from this book please contact us:

[e-mail]

NOTICE TO THE READER

The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works.

 

Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication.

 

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS.

 

Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

ISBN: 978-1-63463-672-8(eBook)

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

Chapter 3