Professor John Swarbrooke Centre for Responsible Tourism Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Transcription

1 Professor John Swarbrooke Centre for Responsible Tourism Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

2 The impacts of tourism are immense and growing all the time, both negative and positive Everyone is talking about sustainable tourism but there is not enough action Academic research is lagging behind what is happening in the so-called real world We are ignoring some of the greatest challenges

3 The carbon footprint of tourists The use of water resources The impact of tourism on wildlife Preventing the over-development of destinations Tourist safety and security Questionable marketing practices Volunteering tourism Ecotourism

4 All-inclusive resorts How the benefits of tourism are distributed Labour issues including tipping, salary levels, discrimination and working conditions Inappropriate tourist behaviour Dark tourism Sex tourism And many more... Complex issues with no easy answers Challenges are constantly evolving

5 Problem denial all-inclusive resorts Responsibility denial the distribution of costs and benefits Putting the other side of the case jobs versus the environment Taking action if it saves money hotels and energy Tokenism tree planting and charity donations Legal compliance - labour

6 They are largely defensive, ad hoc and reactive Common to many sectors not just tourism Many organisations have started to see the need for a more holistic approach and a more pro-active and positive approach This has led to..

7 The idea that companies have responsibilities to a range of different stakeholders, not just investors and owners A recognition that organisations have a responsibility towards the wider society and the environment CRS has grown across most industries although it has taken different forms There are many reasons for its growth including

8 Business scandals that have reduced public confidence in the moral behaviour of corporations Media scrutiny and the fear of damage to brand reputation from bad publicity The work of pressure groups The copycat factor in competitive markets Fear of regulation Demand from corporate clients with their own CSR policies

9 Attracting and retaining good staff Attracting investors High profile role models such as the Body Shop The desire to attract the ethical or feel-good consumer The search for points of differentiation in increasingly competitive markets Disenchantment with the actions of governments

10 Dates back to the1980 s when the focus was on the environment The International Hotels Environmental Initiative post 1992 Rio Summit [now the ITP] Professional body initiatives in tourism such as the Tour Operators Initiative Pioneering work by individual companies such as TUI and British Airways The vocabulary changed from green to sustainable Cooperation rather than competition

11 Accor Planet 21 underpinned by research, embedded in the operations of the company, covers the three pillars of sustainability, sharing of information, performance targets TUI Netherlands tackling the difficult issues such as child protection, working with partners, concrete action at home as well as in the destination Village Ways bringing real economic benefits to communities and local control

12 The hotel towel nonsense! Tokenistic actions and green washing particularly by large hotel corporations Wildlife watching and water-based activities Exploitation of cultures ethnic villages Hotel s appropriating water resources

13 Tourist use of water resources Embedded water the game-changing Accor research the figure of 86% Low pay why are taxpayers subsidising the employees of global corporations? Labour rights Brazil and Qatar Sexual exploitation of children Social inclusion in the tourism market Human rights working with totalitarian governments

14 Cash cows - it s all about the money Sacred cows the concept of the community Mad cows the concept of carrying capacity

15 The need for regulation to protect the good guys? Sorting out the mess of certification, reporting and awards Focusing as much energy on social and economic issues as on the environment Academic research that is of practical value

16 Recognises that striving for sustainability is about individual and corporate responsibility not just top down public policy The way this idea is developing also implies that : Sustainability may not be achievable Every location is different and needs its own solutions Everyone can be empowered to contribute to making tourism more responsible

17 Tourists pay the true price of their trip and those working in tourism receive a fair share of the benefits of tourism Tourists treat their hosts with respect and are themselves treated with respect in return Tourism helps make destinations good places to live as well as visit Tourists become more aware of the issues and reward destinations and organisations that are more responsible

18 Organisations adopt holistic CSR policies that deal with the difficult issues too and have measurable outcomes We recognise taking a vacation as a human right and take action to ensure that everyone can participate in the market regardless of health or wealth The newly emerging markets pioneer new more responsible approaches to tourism

19 Tourists continue to pay a price which is subsidised by local taxpayers and low paid workers Tourism uses places rather than being used by places to improve the quality of life for locals Tourists behave arrogantly and local people rip them off Tourist destinations become ghettoes wholly cut off from local life Tourists continue to be unaware or ignore the issues

20 Organisations refuse to accept their responsibilities and instead adopt tokenistic policies that look good on the website and continue to ignore the difficult issues Vacations continue to be the norm for some and an impossible dream for others The emerging markets simply follow the model of the old markets but just on a much larger scale

21 Tourism causes irrevocable damage to the environment and water resources Tourist behaviour causes resentment and a negative reaction from local residents Terrorist s increasingly attack tourists as legitimate targets because of the above The industry fails to meet the challenges and does too little too late Whose job is it to make sure that this is not what happens?

22 That s what responsible tourism means As Goodwin says, responsibility is free, take it, you can have as much as you can handle!

23 Thank you for listening!