RESOURCES
RESOURCES: PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS
| Author : | Gabriela Estrella, Myrta Zemp & Urs Wagenseil |
|---|---|
| Year : | 2016 |
Over
the decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion; it is considered one
of the fastest growing economy sectors in the world. Modern tourism is closely
associated to development of the host-community and its surroundings.
Cooperation is the key to reach a common goal in the tourism industry that is
highly fragmented. Everyone gains from
properly managed tourism. Investigating the linkages between Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) offer the
possibility of new perspectives on the management of sustainable tourism. The
purpose of this study is to investigate how DMOs consider CSR at the moment to
develop a tourism destination. Specifically, the first part of this research
used document analysis technique to find out the CSR actual status in DMOs
official websites and public documentation. Additionally, expert interviews
were conducted in order to explore and validate the results obtained in the
first part of the research. Results show that CSR in the context of DMOs and
tourism destination is still in its infancy. However, the role of DMOs as
leaders of CSR and sustainable practices has been widely identified and it is
expected to enhance positively the industry. Nowadays DMOs tasks and
responsibilities are beyond marketing. This implies that DMOs need to be
prepare to face new management challenges, to success DMOs are advised to
engage themselves in CSR practices but mainly they need to assume the
leadership position to encourage the implementation of CSR in the whole
destination.
