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.