Tourism: putting ethics into practice

This reports on a survey of UK based tour operators that asked about their responsible business practices, with a focus on developing countries. The survey asked about four main areas of practice, namely

• bringing benefits to the local community
• charitable giving
• partnerships
• responsible tourism policies

In each case findings are discussed and recommendations made. The survey found that the majority of operators could provide examples of benefits to local communities but felt that barriers such as tourist attitudes and health and safety liability stood in the way of doing more. Charitable giving was common, with three quarters of companies giving and/or encouraging their clients to give to charities that worked in the destination. The report recommends that companies set consistent levels of giving and commit to long-term partnerships as well as encouraging giving by guests.

Partnerships with local companies tended to be informal and little formal training of local partners was evidenced, despite a common complaint of lack of good services in many destinations. The final chapter reports on companies' responsible tourism policies and states that half of those surveyed did have such a policy. Recommendations for the components of such a policy are provided.

Examples of good practice and recommended actions for tour operators are provided throughout the report.