Paths to success: Benchmarking cross-country sustainable tourism

Given the complexity of the issues surrounding the concept of sustainable tourism, the current paper tries to provide a unified methodology to assess tourism sustainability, based on a number of quantitative indicators. The proposed methodological framework (Sustainable Tourism Benchmarking Tool – STBT) will provide a number of benchmarks against which the sustainability of tourism activities in various countries can be assessed. A model development procedure is proposed: identification of the dimensions (economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure) and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation on three Asian countries. This application to three countries shows us that a similar level of tourism activity might bring on different sorts of improvements to implement in the tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socio-ecological environment. The heterogeneity of developing countries exposed in the STBT is useful to detect the main problem that each country faces in their tourism sector.     

Drivers and consequences of sustainability committee existence? Evidence from the hospitality and tourism industry

This study's objective is twofold: (1) to investigate whether board characteristics predict the existence of a sustainability committee, and (2) to examine whether the establishment of sustainability committees stimulates sustainability reporting, external assurance, and the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework in hospitality and tourism (H&T) firms. For this purpose, the data was derived from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for publicly traded H&T firms from 2013 to 2018. The results indicate that while board size is a significant predictor of sustainability committee establishment, female and independent directors are not. Furthermore, the H&T firms with a sustainability committee are more likely to issue a sustainability report, to get an independent assurance statement on sustainability reporting, and to follow GRI guidelines in configuring sustainability report content and structure. Overall, the results suggest important implications to help H&T firms achieve sustainable goals and to design their boards accordingly.     

‘A‘ohe pau ke ‘ike ka hālau ho‘okahi [All knowledge is not taught in the same school]1 Welcoming Kānaka Hawai‘i Waves of Knowing and Revisiting Leisure

As we reflect on the leisure science canon, we use this occasion to ponder how our scholarship has engaged with communities with alternative worldviews compared with the Euro-North American worldview dominant in leisure scholarship. While some Indigenous cultural practices may, at first glance, seem similar to behaviors found in Euro-North American leisure space-time, such a comparison is often problematic when an Indigenous language has no equivalent concept or word for leisure and the worldview assumes a different relational reality. Drawing on our ongoing research working with Kanaka Hawai‘i, we offer a discussion of the relevance and need for Ieisure scholars and practitioners to engage with Indigenous worldviews, ways of knowing and being. We specifically focus on approaches and dispositions relevant to scholars and practitioners as we look to nourishing possibilities for richer relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through leisure.     

Corporate social responsibility: The disclosure–performance gap

As increased stakeholder pressure requires companies to be transparent about their CSR practices, it is essential to know how reliable corporate disclosure mechanisms are, testing the gap between corporate social responsibility claims and actual practice. This study benchmarks corporate social responsibility policies and practices of ten international hotel groups of particular importance to the European leisure market. We found that corporate systems are not necessarily reflective of actual operations, environmental performance is eco-savings driven, labour policies aim to comply with local legislation, socio-economic policies are inward looking with little acceptance of impacts on the destination, and customer engagement is limited. Generally larger hotel groups have more comprehensive policies but also greater gaps in implementation, while the smaller hotel groups focus only on environmental management and deliver what they promised. As the first survey of its kind in tourism, both the methodology and the findings have implications for further research.     

Corporate enterprise: a new reality for hospitality organisations?

Corporate enterprise (CE) is in many ways a new subject and yet paradoxically, there is nothing new about the practice of enterprise in larger organisations. This paper has examined the changing nature of hospitality organisations using the lens of ‘entrepreneurship’ rather than that of organisational behaviour and/or strategic management. The work is primarily conceptual illustrating how larger hospitality organisations can become more enterprising and thus utilises ideas and theories from research into CE. The paper explores in detail a conceptual framework for understanding CE developed by the author. It applies this framework to hospitality organisations showing the principles involved with the promotion of business creation and innovation. Further, the paper illustrates practical steps one can take to promote new ventures in existing organisations.     

Antecedents and consequences of managerial behavior in agritourism

Drawing from contingency theory and the concept of entrepreneurship, this study investigates the viability of small-scale agritourism business. Specifically, this paper identifies the antecedents (i.e., external environment and internal conditions) and consequences (i.e., financial and non-financial benefits) of managerial behaviors (i.e., innovation, pro-activeness, and aggressiveness) that exist when operating an agritourism business. Based on responses from the USDA census of agriculture, the results of this research reveal the heterogeneous effects of antecedents that contribute positively and negatively to managerial behavior. The varied influences of managerial behavior on different types of business performance are identified. Also, theoretical implications of the development of agritourism studies as well as managerial implications for owners, consultants, and policymakers related to the small tourism business in rural areas are provided.     

How do hospitality entrepreneurs use their social networks to access resources? Evidence from the lifecycle of small hospitality enterprises

This study investigates entrepreneurs’ use of social networks to access resources during the conception, start-up, and consolidation stages of small enterprises in the hospitality industry in Sergipe State, Brazil. This study analyzes four cases of small hotel ventures, employing cross-case analyses to identify the patterns, similarities, and differences between the cases. The study findings highlight that, in the start-up stage, entrepreneurs access fewer resources, utilizing only family and friends, primarily as moral support. In the consolidation stage, entrepreneurs rely more on their weak links, accessing them with greater frequency. Mobilizing social networks is a dynamic process, and how entrepreneurs use these networks changes throughout the business-creation process. This is one of the first studies on how entrepreneurs use their social networks, especially in a developing economy.