This paper presents a critical review of recent progress in research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in tourism management, and possible directions for future research. In comparison to a well-established, empirically-grounded body of knowledge dealing with other sectors of economic activity, dedicated research on CSR in travel and tourism is at a relatively early stage. In the past decade, CSR has been the primary subject of a limited number of studies from a small academic community of practice. Studies have primarily focused on three macro-level topic areas: implementation; the economic rationale for acting more responsibly; and the social relations of CSR. Interest in responsibility as an approach to tourism governance and management is nevertheless growing as several policy prescriptions and corporate vision statements reveal. For research to progress further and to match these ambitions, greater critical engagement with mainstream thinking on CSR is required as well as greater conceptual and methodological sophistication.

The role of interested groups within English tourism policy development has increased considerably in recent years. There are several possible explanations for this, including changing government policy styles, the perception of the importance of tourism to the national economy, and the developing sophistication of a tourism policy network. This paper reviews the role of interested groups and the nature of tourism policy development in England within the context of a theoretical discussion on public policy analysis, policy styles and policy networks. It specifically reports on the relationship between the tourism interest groups and government, and the mechanisms used by them to influence policy development. The paper shows that the tourism policy network can be characterisedas immature. It has government at its centre directing strategic policy, with two sub-networks concentrating on the detail of commercial tourism and tourism resource policy. Within these sub-networks are dominant and secondary players defined as such by the manner in which they use their resources, gain access to decision-makers, collaborate with like-minded groups and work with government bureaucracy.

Discussion of sustainable tourism has become dominated by the issue of climate change. As a major source of emissions, the tourism sector has a vital role to play in efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Within the current body of knowledge and among major policy discourses, the prevailing paradigm has been to encourage action: reduced emissions will follow innovations in managerial practices and the uptake of the latest, most resource-efficient technologies. This paper examines energy practices among small-and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs), reporting empirical research conducted as part of a five-year programme. Although energy was a significant cost of production, it did not feature prominently in the business administration of most SMTEs. A major knowledge gap was exposed regarding how energy was consumed and administered by individual businesses. The paper argues for a major shift in thinking away from the number of actions as the key success criterion. Action alone is no guarantee of emissions reductions in a sector where growth is the dominant imperative.Instead, a crucial reorientation towards stimulating higher levels of energy literacy among SMTEs is necessary in parallel to rebalancing of attention towards energy generation.

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The recent financial crisis has resulted in the restructuring and reorganisation of tourism production and consumption. Many states have cut public spending to reduce their deficits. However, there has been no analysis of the nature, extent or outcomes of such changes to state support for, or mediation of, the tourism sector. This paper examines how recent reforms enacted since the Coalition Government came to power in May 2010 have impacted on tourism governance and administration in England, and how they have been experienced as they have been unfolding. This paper argues, more generally, for a greater appreciation of sense-making in critical studies of tourism and public policy. More specifically, rapid reforms to the preferred nature and scale of state intervention have had destabilising effects. New localism, sub-regional bodies, and a desire in central government to reduce the contribution of the public purse to a minimum have introduced complexity and uncertainty to a previously ordered and understood system. The implications are that these reforms may frustrate other national policy aspirations they are intended to facilitate. As other states are also likely to downgrade their support for tourism, the paper demonstrates the importance of developing a deeper understandings of what happens as public sector support is withdrawn.