Corporate Responsibility
Many economic sectors have developed standards for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), e.g. the "Better Cotton Initiative", the "Floriculture Sustainability Initiative, "Responsible Care" in the chemical industry, or "Bettercoal". Instead of a CSR standard, the tourism industry has more than...
The human rights related responsibilities of companies have been posing new challenges to the tourism industry. Peter-Mario Kubsch, CEO of Studiosus Reisen, summarises what Studiosus is doing and going to do in order to strengthen human rights in the company's operations.
We are pleased to invite you to this year´s ITB certification celebration of tourism enterprises by TourCert. By now, 54 tour operators have been awarded with the red label for corporate responsibility and sustainability in tourism. This year is the first time that not only tour operators but...
The sexual exploitation of children is not inevitable. That was the message coming out of Rio de Janeiro where 137 governments met with children and youth representatives, international organizations, NGOs and private sector companies. As Mechtild Maurer reports, the Third World Congress against...
The ″Code of Conduct″ (CC) for the Protection of Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Tourism has reached the tourism industry. It has so far been signed by nearly 1,000 companies and associations in 37 countries (March 2011). According to the child rights organisation ECPAT, it has thus...
In Egypt, it is not easy to integrate personal encounters between tourists and local people into tourist itineraries, says Heinz Fuchs. He reports on the efforts made by the German church-related tour operator "Biblische Reisen" to organise tours to Egypt in a socially responsible manner.
Due...
Not only Israel, but Palestine, too, is home to various tourist attractions. However, the major share of tourist arrivals and tourism income goes to the Israeli tourism industry. If tourism is to have positive effects in conflict regions, there is a need for conflict-sensitive corporate social...
Tourism in countries affected by conflicts can have a positive influence, but might also reinforce conflicts. Tour operators selling trips to such regions have a special responsibility to promote peace and minimize problems, says Claudia Osthues. In order to formulate conflict-related CSR...
In the current D+C Development and Cooperation 2010/07-08 is an article "Responsible Tourism" published on the thematic focus Corporate Social Responsiblity. The article describes the behavior when travelling. On the part of the travel industry transparency and information transfer in the context...
By Christina Kamp
Companies are increasingly being judged not just by the products and profits they make, but also by the ways in which these profits are made. Yet, there is no consensus on what "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) actually means. To improve the understanding of its possible...
The volume "Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2009" is based on panel discussions and presentations made at the ITB Congress "Market Trends & Innovations" in March 2008, which had a focus on climate change. The book presents the concept of "zero footprint", which it says would work only if it...
In a globalised world, the capacity of the state to regulate economic behaviour is in decline. This implies an increasing role of economic self-regulation mechanisms, the power of consumers and civil society monitoring. In "The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility", leading experts in...
On the occasion of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 15) in Copenhagen, "Respect - Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development" (Vienna, Austria) and partners have published a brochure on tourism and climate change. As...
Tour operators currently find themselves in a dilemma: On the one hand, they recognize that climate change mitigation is essential for protecting their economic success in the long term. On the other hand, a net reduction of their corporate emissions would "cannibalize" their core business in the...
The tourism industry must act immediately to reduce its emissions and to operate a broad paradigm shift, from profit-centred strategies to people-centred ones, says a position paper developed by civil society groups and NGOs on the occasion of the UNFCCC talks from 29th September to 9th October,...
"TourCert", the non-profit certification organisation in tourism, was founded to certify CSR/sustainability reports prepared by tour operators. Founders are the Centre for Ecology & Development (KATE-Stuttgart), the German Church Development Service (EED), Naturefriends International, Vienna,...
At the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) 2009, the first 15 members of the tour operators' association "Forum anders reisen" were awarded their certificates "CSR-certified". They were handed over by Klaus Töpfer, former director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), who appreciated...
By Angela Giraldo
A quality label for sustainable tourism shall help customers to get an idea of the environmental and social impact of their holidays. At the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in March 2009 in Berlin, the first tour operators will be awarded the label "CSR-certified",...
The "CSR Reporting Initiative for Tourism", an initiative by KATE (Center for Ecology & Development, Stuttgart) in cooperation with EED-Tourism Watch, "Forum anders reisen" and the European network of services trade unions UNI Europa, has published guidelines which outline eight steps towards...
By Katja Plume
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plays an increasingly important role. A symposium on CSR along the tourism supply chain, organised by "GATE - Netzwerk, Tourismus, Kultur e.V." and other partners, took place on 20th and 21st November, 2009, in Hamburg, Germany. It provided...
In their brochure "Supply chain engagement for tour operators"*, the Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (TOI) shows opportunities for tour operators to act responsibly along the whole service chain. We wanted to know from Andreas Müseler how such a commitment to...
By Sumesh Mangalassery
For the villagers of Kovalam fishing village, the night of April 13th, 2006 (the eve of the Tamil New Year) is still a nightmare. Police entered the village, beat their women, threatened their men, and arrested many. Later, the villagers were astounded to know that the...
In a new report "Putting Tourism to Rights", the British campaigning organisation Tourism Concern demands action to end human rights violations in tourism. The report exposes the violations of human rights that occur as a direct result of tourism through an examination of key articles of the...
In a globalised world, the capacity of the state to regulate economic behaviour is in decline. This implies an increasing role of economic self-regulation mechanisms, the power of consumers and civil society monitoring. In "The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility", leading experts...
By Katja Plume
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plays an increasingly important role. A symposium on CSR along the tourism supply chain, organised by "GATE - Netzwerk, Tourismus, Kultur e.V." and other partners, took place on 20th and 21st November, 2009, in Hamburg. It provided...
By Christina Kamp
In their brochure "Supply chain engagement for tour operators", the Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (TOI) shows opportunities for tour operators to act responsibly along the whole service chain. We wanted to know from Andreas Müseler how such a...
GATE - Netzwerk, Tourismus, Kultur e.V. lädt zum Symposium „Nachhaltigkeit auf der ganzen Linie? CSR in touristischen Zuliefererketten" am 20.-21.November 2009 im Euro Business College Hamburg ein. Das Symposium wird in Kooperation mit dem Euro Business College Hamburg, der Deutschen Gesellschaft...
Das weltweite Kinderrechtsbündnis ECPAT und das Kosmetikunternehmen "The Body Shop" starten zum 31. August 2009 die dreijährige Kampagne "Stoppt Sex-Handel mit Kindern und Jugendlichen", die in über 80 Ländern auf das Thema Kinderhandel zum Zweck sexueller Ausbeutung aufmerksam macht. Denn...
After five years of operation, Ecuador's controversial oil pipeline "Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados" (OCP) experienced its first oil spill. According to official sources, more than 14,000 barrel of crude oil polluted the Santa Rosa river, about 100 km east of the capital Quito. Other rivers further...
Volunteer tourism is getting increasingly popular, even though as a tourism segment it has not played a major role yet. As part of her research, Nikola Schiekel has collected views on ‘voluntourism' from Germany and South Africa. Heinz Fuchs, EED-Tourism Watch regards volunteer tourism as a "work...
On Friday, 13th of March EED-Tourism Watch realized a presentation on Corporate Social Responsiblity in Practise under the title: "Sun, Sand and Sustainable Tourism".
Jennifer Seif (Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa) and Rosemary Viswanath (Equations, India) presented together with ECPAT...
By Sumesh Mangalassery
For the villagers of Kovalam fishing village, the night of April 13th, 2006 (the eve of the Tamil New Year) is still a nightmare. Police entered the village, beat their women, threatened their men, and arrested many. Later, the villagers were astounded to know that the...
By Prema Nair
As two examples from South India show, coastal areas are under severe pressure of land speculation. Prema Nair describes how in Mararikulam, in the state of Kerala, land speculators persuade fishermen to sell their land, effectively displacing them from their homes and livelihoods...
By René Schärer
René Schärer presents examples of tourism resorts in Brazil that have been blocked by popular movements and federal attorneys and points out the positive side of the present financial crises which may slow down the speculative fever. In the state of Ceará, the resistance is well...
Im Rahmen des von GATE e.V. veranstalteten Symposiums „Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) im Tourismus", das am 9. und 10. Mai 2008 an der Universität Hamburg stattfand, kamen mehr als 100 Teilnehmer aus unterschiedlichen wissenschaftlichen Fachrichtungen, NROs und wirtschaftlichen Bereichen...
Tour operators currently find themselves in a dilemma: On the one hand, they recognize that climate change mitigation is essential for protecting their economic success in the long term. On the other hand, a net reduction of their corporate emissions would "cannibalize" their core business in the...
In certain tourist areas in the Dominican Republic, child prostitution has become so rampant that hoteliers have recognised the need of taking action. Supported by the German Travel Association (DRV), ECPAT Germany and GTZ, a workshop in May 2006 at Puerto Plata had brought together entrepreneurs...
The ″Code of Conduct″ (CC) for the Protection of Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Tourism has reached the tourism industry. It has so far been signed by more than 600 companies and associations in more than 23 countries. According to the child rights organisation ECPAT, it has thus...
A closer look at the rehabilitation of the tourism industry following the tsunami.
Commissioned by the EED (Church Development Service) and the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) (May 2007)
