Abstract
This book chapter will discuss the implementation of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) in the ecotourism industry, a tourism sector which has long been considered a frontrunner of sustainable tourism. The first section provides an analysis of the degree in which ecotourism has delivered on its aspirations to contribute to biodiversity conservation, while minimising resource use and promoting local socio-economic development. It will be shown that the private sector is expected to play a key role in achieving these goals. Thus, there is a clear relation to the concept of corporate sustainability and responsibility. However, so far ecotourism has rarely been discussed in this context. To gather empirical evidence, the author analysed to what degree members of the international Adventure Travel Trade Association adhere to, and meaningfully implement, CSR principles. 76 nature-based outbound operators were chosen as study objects. Based on content analysis of the companies’ websites, the results show that, despite a general commitment to sustainability, CSR is mostly practiced in an unsystematic way with very limited formal reporting or external certification. Philanthropy is more prominent than integrating CSR into the tour operators’ core business management. The CSR 2.0 level is seldom attained.
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Notes
- 1.
Sustainable Travel International and the Rainforest Alliance also certify tour operators, but unless explicitly stated, companies were not counted as such.
- 2.
It was not possible to analyze the mentioned prizes/awards as to what degree they do or do not cover relevant sustainability criteria.
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Appendix
Appendix
List of analysed tour operators
Name | Based in |
|---|---|
Abercrombie & Kent | United Kingdom |
äventyrsresor | Sweden |
Above the Clouds | USA |
Absolute Adventure | United Arab Emirates |
Active Adventures | New Zealand |
Active Earth Adventures | New Zealand |
Adventure Canada | Canada |
Adventure Consultants | New Zealand |
Adventure Life | USA |
Adventure Smith Explorations | USA |
Adventures in Good Company | USA |
Adventures within Reach | USA |
Africa Easy | USA |
Albatros Travel | Denmark |
Allibert Trekking | France |
Alluring Africa | USA |
Asi Reisen | Austria |
Audley Travel | USA |
Aurora Expeditions | Australia |
Austin Adventures | USA |
Backroads | USA |
Better Places | Netherlands |
Beyond X Boundaries | Singapore |
Borton Overseas | USA |
Boundless Journeys | USA |
Cango Travel | Singapore |
Canyon Calling | USA |
Chimu Adventures | Australia |
Civilized Adventures | Canada |
Country Walkers | USA |
Deeper Africa | USA |
Desna Safaris | USA |
Epic Private Journeys | Australia |
Exodus Travels | Canada |
Explore! | United Kingdom |
GeoEx | USA |
Global Basecamps | USA |
Goway | Canada |
Hauser Exkursionen | Germany |
Ice Tracks Expeditions | United Kingdom |
International Expeditions | USA |
Intrepid Group | Australia |
Journeys International | USA |
KE Adventure Travel | United Kingdom |
Lindblad Expeditions | USA |
Mountain Travel Sobek | USA |
Natural Habitat Adventures | USA |
Natural Wonders Tours | USA |
O.A.R.S. | USA |
Oceanwide Expeditions | Netherlands |
Oneseed Expeditions | USA |
Orbridge | USA |
Polar Latitudes | USA |
Polar Quest | Sweden |
Poseidon Expeditions | USA |
Quark Expeditions | USA |
Rahhalah | United Arab Emirates |
REI Adventures | USA |
ROW Adventures | USA |
Steppes Travel | United Kingdom |
Terra Incognita Ecotours | USA |
Terres d’Aventure | France |
Thomson Family Adventures | USA |
Tirawa | France |
Tour the Tropics | Australia |
Travel the Unknown | United Kingdom |
Untamed Travelling | Netherlands |
Visionary Wild | USA |
Viva Expeditions | New Zealand |
Wild Frontiers Travel | United Kingdom |
Wild Planet Adventures | USA |
Wilderness Travel | USA |
Wildfoot Travel | United Kingdom |
Wildland Adventures | USA |
World Expeditions | Canada |
Zegrahm Expeditions | USA |
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Strasdas, W. (2019). Corporate Responsibility Among International Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Operators. In: Lund-Durlacher, D., Dinica, V., Reiser, D., Fifka, M. (eds) Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility in Tourism. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15624-4_9
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