Short-haul city travel is truly environmentally sustainable

With rising interest in and concern about climate change and environmental sustainability, and the significance of the tourism industry worldwide, the impact of tourism-related activities and behaviors on the environment has become a key area of research. In particular, transport related to tourism has come under scrutiny for its contribution to the ecological footprint of tourism of a destination, mostly accounted for by the dominance of air travel. This study contributes to research in this area by identifying the types of travel situations in which tourists make environmentally friendly choices about travel modes and, consequently, which types of tourism destinations should seek to develop and promote in order to minimize the environmental impact of the tourist sector on both an individual destination and global scale.     

Analytical Reflections on the Economic Impact Assessment of Conventions and Special Events

Abstract

Over the past decades, the growth of the convention and event industry has enhanced an awareness of its economic significance to local, state, and national economies. Accordingly, many industry and academic studies have introduced various methods for accurately assessing the direct and indirect economic impacts of conventions and special events. Among them, the input-output (I-O) model is widely used for the economic impact assessments. This article first reviews economic impact studies in the convention and event tourism sector and then discusses issues related to the I-O model framework.     

Environmental awareness and initiatives in the Swedish and Polish hotel industries—survey results

Despite its importance, environmental stewardship is not always the top priority in the hotel industry in Europe. This study investigates the influence of the geo-political, economic and socio-cultural context of a country on the environmental attitudes and pro-ecological initiatives incorporated in this sector. To illustrate the differences, hotels in Sweden and Poland were targeted and a total of 349 hoteliers participated in an e-mail-based survey. The study reveals that hotel operators generally recognize the need for environmental protection and are involved in a number of activities. The economic situation and pro-environmental efforts initiated by the government were found to have an impact on certain aspects of hoteliers’ attitudes and actions. The survey has further indicated the two major directions that need to be followed when introducing environmental sustainability into the hotel industry. The first involves incorporating responsible technical and behavioural practices in the sector. The second highlights the necessity of initiating greater demand for “green” practices from the customers.     

区域间投入产出模型(IRIO)的我国会展业经济影响分析

在事件活动领域,相对于体育活动,关于会展活动经济影响的研究较为薄弱。如何将与会展相关的产业和区域全部纳入其中以避免失真和漏损,是会展经济影响研究的难点之一。该研究首次运用区域间投入产出模型(IRIO),通过将波及的12个产业部门进行归并,计算了我国30个省区会展产业的区域及区域间影响力,并以广交会为案例,进行了会展间接经济影响的实证分析。研究结果显示:我国会展业对国民经济具有较强的拉动作用,而且几乎所有的省区都会产生相互间的波及效应;在总产出层面,会展产业的影响力在东部沿海和中西部地区表现出较为明显的差异性;我国会展业还有一定的发展空间。案例研究表明,第104届广交会的间接经济影响约为162.43亿元(其中广东占比最高,为35.09%),直接与间接效应之比为1:2.94;批发和零售贸易业等五个产业部门受广交会影响较大,合计占比为77%。     

The coastal tourism industry in the Mediterranean: A critical review of the socio-economic and environmental pressures & impacts

Tourism is a vital economic source in the Mediterranean basin. The sun and beach tourists are of major social and economic importance for almost all Mediterranean countries. However, this industry's extensive and uncontrolled growth may negatively impact these fragile natural coastline areas. In the present study, we review and analyse the driver's forces, pressures, and impacts of the tourism sector development in the Mediterranean countries' environment and economy by using the D (Driver) P (Pressure) S (State) I (Impact) R (Responses) analytical framework. The analysis highlights the critical social and economic roles the coastal tourism industry plays while the steady and uncontrolled growth of this sector and related activities compromise these coastal countries' ecology and environmental quality. This requires the decision-makers and stakeholders' attention toward adopting new strategies and approaches toward greening the blue tourism industry to ensure sustainable economic, social and environmental growth of this industry. In this perspective, we point out the necessity to incorporate environmental issues with economic and socio-cultural needs to obtain complete and harmonized sustainable tourism indicators in the Mediterranean.     

海陵岛旅游的社会文化影响研究

本文选择广东海陵岛闸坡镇和海陵镇两镇,通过比较研究来探讨旅游业发展对于其社会文化的影响.研究发现旅游比较成熟的闸坡镇的社会文化环境在旅游业发展的冲击下已经发生了明显的变迁:居民生活的环境不断改善、基础设施不断完善,更重要的是社区居民的思想意识、文明水平、普通话水平、思想开放度等都明显提高.与此同时也导致了赌博、抢劫、卖淫等犯罪现象的增多.海陵镇由于较少涉足旅游业,还没有对当地社会文化产生太大的影响,社区居民对于影响的感知也很少,但是由于受经济利益和社会收益提高的吸引,当地居民表现出对参与旅游业很浓厚的兴趣.     

Corporate sustainability reporting index and baseline data for the cruise industry

Sustainability policies and corporate reports demonstrate the impacts cruise companies acknowledge as their responsibility, and the actions put in place to address them. This paper develops a corporate social responsibility index based on the Global Reporting Initiative, with industry specific additions including labor and human rights, health and safety, and environmental and economic aspects. Companies disclose more management than performance data, which is typical of early stages of development. Companies disclosing less information focus on soft indicators which are easy to mimic and demonstrate posturing. Items disclosed tend to be marginal to the core of the business, have a positive economic impact or pre-empt sector regulation. Reports echo the voice of the corporations and not the demands of stakeholders. Institutional isomorphism has not influenced a homogenization in reporting, with only the largest firms reporting at this stage.     

Evaluating green performance of the airports using hybrid BWM and VIKOR methodology

The aviation industry is growing at a rapid pace worldwide. However, with the growing numbers, the aviation industry has also contributed to environmental degradation over the past few years. This issue needs attention as various agencies and scholars all over the world are trying to find means of protecting the environment. Therefore, there is a growing need to develop green and sustainable airports, which have minimal impact on the environment. With this in focus, this research has been taken up to explore the criteria for evaluating the green performance of airports. A hybrid of Best Worst Method (BWM) and VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR) methodologies has been employed to calculate the weight of different criteria and rank the airports accordingly. Green policies and regulations are the most important performance criteria for green airports.     

Environmentally friendly practices among restaurants: drivers and barriers to change

This study of environmental management in the food service industry in general and the restaurant sector in particular highlights food services’ impacts on the environment, and drivers and barriers to change. The study is based on research in Penang, Malaysia, which included a personally assisted survey of 26 restaurant managers operating casual upscale businesses. The survey findings show that implementation of environmentally friendly practices is weak in the restaurant sector. While top managers claim to be informed and concerned about environmental issues, they are reluctant to invest in environmental management systems, to change practices, to advertise environmentally friendly products or invest in the implementation of environmentally friendly practices. They note barriers to change, including weakly enforced environmental laws and regulations, scarce and intermittent green supply chain, non-existent trade pressure and poor customer and community demand for restaurant business to implement green practices. A model of barriers and drivers leading to the implementation of environmentally friendly practices is presented in this study. Government intervention, including public education, capacity building and support in the trade and agricultural change to grow more organic crops, is suggested. The study depicts the responsiveness of restaurateurs towards the implementation of environmentally friendly practices in the context of a developing country.     

IMPACT OF AN ECONOMIC CRISIS Evidence from Turkey

This paper evaluates the impact of the 2001 economic crisis on the tourism industry in Turkey. The research findings reveal that neither the government nor private organizations had any plans for dealing with the crisis before or after the event. It had both negative and positive impacts although its benefits were often overlooked. The overall implication of the study is that national culture, the level of economic development of a country, the availability of financial resources, and the ability and knowledge of its government officials and managers of private firms have a direct impact on how such an event is responded to and managed.     

Relation between social-environmental responsibility and performance in hotel firms

In the present work we first theoretically contextualise the importance of social and environmental responsibility in the firm, at the same time analysing the relation between this variable and firm performance, for which the literature provides contradictory results. In the hotel sector this controversy is particularly relevant, given the intense relations and dependencies that this industry has with its environmental context. Subsequently, we conduct an empirical study centring on the Spanish hotel sector, whose findings point to a strong and positive relation between both variables.     

Serviced Accommodation,Environmental Performance and Benchmarks

Abstract

The establishment of benchmarks as a tool to aid the evaluation and review of the performance of hospitality and tourism enterprises in a number of areas, e.g., financial appraisal, grading schemes, is comparatively long established. More recently, benchmarks have been developed for the accreditation of business in such areas as TQM and IiP. One area that has been comparatively ignored is that of environmental performance of the enterprises. This is particularly notable, given the rise of attention and debate over sustainable development and the need for a balance between economic growth and the quality of the environment which has generated much debate. The quintessential importance of this latter aspect-the quality of the environment-to the development of tourism has long been recognised, and since the mid-1980s has generated substantial attention to the impact of tourism on the physical environment. In combination, this attention has led to the development of 'sustainability indicators for tourist destinations.' However, there has been a substantial lack of attention to the environmental performance of the enterprises involved and their impacts on the environment-taken in its widest senses. This weakness, and the absence of suitable benchmarks, emerged in the initial stages of a major project designed to evaluate the environmental performance of the tourism sector in the Lake District of England; an area listed in the top 50 of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world in 2000. Thus, the first stage of the project required the development of a set of suitable indicators designed to assess the environmental performance of the enterprises involved. This article discusses the development and derivation of these indicators, with specific focus on serviced accommodation, and subsequently the establishment of a range of benchmarks which may not only be applied in evaluating progress in future assessment of the environmental performance of this sector in the Lake District but also may be applied in other destinations throughout the world.     

旅游业能源需求与二氧化碳排放研究进展

人类利用能源导致温室气体排放量的持续增加是全球气候变化的直接驱动力。旅游开发、旅游活动及旅游业发展引起的温室气体排放是旅游业驱动气候变化的重要因素,同时也是发展旅游业主要的环境影响结果之一。随着旅游业的蓬勃发展,旅游业对环境和气候变化的影响被相关国际组织和社会各界所关注,旅游业能源需求与二氧化碳排放研究成为近5年来旅游研究领域的热点。国外研究综述表明,目前已识别旅游业能耗、排放的重点领域及结构;在旅游业能源消耗与二氧化碳排放的定量估算研究与情景分析方面形成初步结论。对不同类型旅游交通方式、住宿方式及旅游活动的单位能耗和排放强度等关键性参数取得一般性认识,并识别了明显的国别、地区及不同部门之间的差异。基本形成体系化的节能减排政策措施。基于国内外旅游业能源需求与二氧化碳排放的结构与途径、测算、预测与情景分析及节能减排对策与措施等方面对比研究,作者指出未来国内研究应重点加强旅游交通和住宿业等重点领域能源需求与排放的定量实证研究,加强旅游业能源需求与排放的预测分析和情景研究,加快推进旅游业气候政策研究,切实提高旅游业应对气候变化和节能减排的研究水平,提高政策措施针对性和可操作性,以期为我国旅游业节能减排、应对气候变化提供科学依据。     

A Case Study: Enhancing Laos' Tourism Sector Performance Through Destination Human Resource Development

Tourism in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) is a relatively new phenomenon that commenced in earnest in the late 1990s. A decade later, the country's tourism portfolio is dominated by regional visitors originating from neighbouring China, Thailand and Vietnam who generally tend to come in large numbers, are relatively low spenders and register short average length of stays. In order to reap the fiscal benefits of tourism and sustain the nation's fragile cultural and ecological makeup, the Government of Laos is being challenged to establish ways to shift the balance of its tourism demand to more profitable and lower impact market segments. A human resource development strategy published by the Lao National Tourism Administration in collaboration with Luxembourg Development Cooperation suggests that a sustained investment in people will improve tourism sector service quality, which in turn will result in increased industry profitability. This paper explores the existing human resource environment in Laos' tourism sector and outlines the required actions by various stakeholders to achieve improved sector performance and stewardship of the country's fragile culture and environment.     

The impact of tourism on the physical environment

Cohen Erik “The Impact of Tourism on the Physical Environment”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. V, No. 2, April/June 1978, pp. 215–237. While moderate and well-distributed tourism may help to upkeep attractions and preserve the environment, tourism as a mass industry poses new environmental risks. This paper is a first attempt to assess systematically the environmental impact of tourism and to spell out the principal factors on which this impact depends: the intensity of tourist site-use, the resiliency of the eco-system, the time perspective of the developers and the transformational character of touristic developments. The environmental dynamics of the tourist ecological sub-system are shown to consist of a constant expansion at the margins and intensification at the mature core, leading to the creation of “contrived” attractions both at the core (as “natural” attractions decline) and the margins (to supplement meager “natural” attractions as tourism expands into less attractive regions). Two major types of measures for environmental protection are discussed: those protecting the environment for tourism and those protecting it from tourism. The need for the second type of measures is emphasized, particularly in developing countries, which face greater environmental risks from tourism than the developed ones.     

Strategic groups in the hospitality industry: Intergroup and intragroup performance differences in Alicante, Spain

The hotel sector is currently immersed in a very uncertain, highly competitive environment, due to which it needs information for the correct management of its establishments. This information can be obtained from the classification of hotels in strategic groups. The present empirical research presents strategic groups in the hospitality industry as a useful tool for the planning and implementation of strategies by hotels that helps to determine their competitive strategies and advantages. This research paper additionally shows how the levels of performance between the hotels belonging to each group can be evaluated from strategic groups. In this study, the tool is applied to the hotel sector of the Spanish province of Alicante, a very important geographical area in the context of international tourism. The dimensions resource commitment and tourist activity scope have been used to define the strategic groups.     

Going green: the adoption of environmental initiatives in Michigan's lodging sector

The greening of tourism activities continues to receive attention from industry members and academics. This paper assesses familiarity with, perceived benefits of and adoption levels of various environmental initiatives within the accommodation sector in Michigan, USA, based on 217 responses to an online survey of lodging providers. Variations in familiarity with various green schemes, as well as in perceived benefits of the adoption of green business practices, were assessed across property characteristics, including type, ownership, location and size. The existence of a written environmental policy was associated with higher levels of adoption of green practices for less than half of these practices; fewer than anticipated. Interesting differences in the practices adopted between smaller, independent and larger chain properties emerged, with the smaller independents more likely to engage in community-oriented activities and use local and/or organic products. The almost complete implementation of the proper disposal of hazardous waste contrasted with minimal use of keycards to control power use. The findings have implications for the promotion of green initiatives to the lodging sector, particularly in terms of which agency or organization could best deliver this messaging. Potential synergies between the findings and the award-winning tourism marketing campaign, Pure MI, are discussed.     

Should I leave this industry? The role of stress and negative emotions in response to an industry negative work event

The effects of subjective stress and negative emotions on work have been theorized and widely researched, but the literature has mostly focused on organization-specific contexts. The purpose of the current paper was to understand the impact of subjective stress and negative emotions associated with COVID-19 on employee attitudes and behaviors toward the hospitality industry. In Study 1, qualitative interviews showed that the COVID-19 pandemic is (1) perceived as a negative event affecting the industry, rather than only affecting a particular job or company, and (2) distressful, provoking negative emotions. In Study 2, a quantitative study examined subjective stress and negative emotions associated with COVID-19, as well as industry turnover intentions and industry negative word-of-mouth as responses to the stress and negative emotions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The current research underscores the importance of studying work events that impact an industry and attitudes and behaviors toward the industry.     

The Natural State

ABSTRACT

Australian nature-based tourism and ecotourism have become popular forms of recreational activity. Tasmania attracts twice the Australian national average number of nature-based tourists and ecotourists (thirty per cent). The growth of this tourism sector has prompted measures to ensure that experiences are of high quality, and that environmental impacts are adequately managed. ISO 14000 is an environmental management and certification system often utilised as an environmental management system standard within various industries, but has not been widely applied to the Australian tourism industry. The Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP) represents the most significant accreditation measure within Australia at present. This paper assesses the relevance of NEAP in the Tasmanian nature-based tourism and ecotourism industry through in-depth interviews with a key informant group and a comparative analysis of interview data. The paper introduces nature-based tourism and ecotourism definitions and discusses the growing relevance of ecotourism accreditation. The paper argues that NEAP is relevant to the Tasmanian nature-based tourism and ecotourism industry, where the quality of the natural environment forms the central focus for such experiences. Furthermore, the paper argues that NEAP can assist in supporting the State's nature-based tourism and ecotourism industry through means such as branding and promotion. However, problems exist in relation to financial issues between NEAP and operators, and the perceived overlap of NEAP with the widely implemented Tourism Council Tasmania Accreditation Program. Thus, financial issues need to be addressed by the Ecotourism Association of Australia in association with Australian Commonwealth Government subsidisation. The degree of overlap between the two programs can be effectively addressed through industry cooperation. The paper also suggests that stronger branding and promotion of NEAP can be achieved through increased industry involvement by Tourism Tasmania.     

The future of the State-owned hotels in China: Stay or go?

Hotel sector was the first one to employ joint venture in China after its ‘Open Door Policy’ in 1978. In transition from production unit to business unit, the operating system of China's State-owned hotels (SOHs) has changed greatly. Though its hotel industry has become more open, many of the tourist hotels are still State-owned enterprises (SOEs) today, and they account for over half of the loss of all hotels in the country. This study aims to find out: first, critical issues causing those problems facing the SOHs; second, factors affecting the development of SOHs, and third, their future. Government ownership and its related problems, such as complicated ownership, bureaucratic structure and control, add difficulty to restructure SOHs. The future of the SOHs in China regarding whether to stay or to go very much depends on government policy and commitment on restructuring the industry which is vital to success and sustainability of SOHs in the socialist market economy environment.