The Benefits and Challenges of Sustainable Tourism Certification: A Case Study of the Green Tourism Business Scheme in the West of England

Abstract

This paper discusses the perceived benefits and challenges associated with membership of the Green Tourism Business Scheme, a sustainable certification initiative. The literature reveals sustainable business continues to be the focus of considerable academic interest as well as practical importance. Interviews with seven local hospitality and tourism enterprises, in the West of England, provided valuable insights into the benefits of the scheme. These were related to environmental impacts, financial considerations, marketing opportunities, brand recognition and company image, and other issues such as public relations, personal moral responsibility, and political considerations. Challenges included several internal and external factors potentially preventing businesses from joining the GTBS, such as a lack of respondent knowledge of the sustainable tourism concept, the perceived expense of applying for and/or membership, a lack of time to complete the application process, and the amount of work involved in compliance. Recommendations to facilitate and encourage future membership included more information about the scheme and its marketing advantages, the need for regional organisations to spend more money on promoting the GTBS brand, and the necessity of educating consumers on the importance of sustainability.3

Putting social impact assessment to the test as a method for implementing responsible tourism practice

“…For relatively small travel companies, especially in a country such as Bulgaria where responsible tourism development is in its infancy, there is limited access to the financial and human resources or external support needed to implement all of the identified actions. These findings resonate with many small businesses around the world and with the research on the characteristics and constraints small businesses face in adopting sustainable practices (Garay and Font, 2012;Jarvis et al, 2010;Sampaio et al, 2012;Thomas et al, 2011;Tzschentke et al, 2008aTzschentke et al, , 2008b.…”

“…Another criticism is that many of these techniques are, ill-suited to small businesses for many reasons, including: the low level of environmental awareness of some owner-managers; the costs of compliance impacting disproportionately on small businesses; the amount of work involved; the limited availability of information and advice; and a poor fit with the existing culture and informal management approach Font, 2013;Gerstenfeld and Roberts, 2000;Jarvis et al, 2010;Vernon et al, 2003). In other words, many tourism businesses lack the appropriate motivation, understanding, capacity, or mechanisms for identifying, measuring and managing their social impacts in a holistic, systematic and costefficient way.…”

Sustainability and hotel business: criteria for holistic, integrated and participative development

“…The first aspect is grounded on the perspective that sustainable hotel management prioritizes environmental issues in their strategies (Jarvis et al, 2010;Boley and Uysal, 2013;Chou, 2014;Geerts, 2014;Fraj et al, 2015;Han and Yoon, 2015). Thus, the following hypothesis is drawn: there is a lack of organizational management models that align with more holistic and participative sustainability criteria, to address not only environmental issues but also include social, cultural, economic, policy dimension, aspects as suggested in the sustainable development proposal.…”

“…Therefore, discussion ensues regarding the direction this activity will take (Jarvis et al, 2010;Prud'homme and Raymond, 2013;Galpin et al, 2015;Longoni and Cagliano, 2015) because existing practices result in numerous negative impacts: increased energy, water and disposable products consumption, increased CO 2 production rates (Aragon-Correa et al, 2015;Han and Yoon, 2015); reduced motivation and morale of collaborators (Sigala, 2014); commoditization of local culture rather than maintaining its authenticity (Cohen, 1988); disruption of local economic systems (Rodríguez-Ant on et al, 2012). These negative impacts further increase the managerial and operational challenges in the tourism industry (Tyrrell et al, 2013).…”

Impacts of Terrorism in the United Kingdom and Europe on Tourism in the United Kingdom

“…Giles & Perry (1998) used a temporal analog method to discuss the relationship between climate change and tourism in the United Kingdom. Jarvis et al (2010) There are also many pieces of research relating to the relationship between tourism and terrorism among different countries or regions (see Goodrich, 2002;Pizam & Fleischer, 2002;Pizam, 1999;Chu, 2008 among many others). Goodrich (2002) used the September 11 terrorist attack as a case study and analyzed its impact on the tourism industry in the USA.…”