Green/Sustainable Practices (Topic 12)
Fifteen out of 83 articles (18%) were categorized as about Green/Sustainable Practices.
Only two of the articles were from academic journals, and one of those was an editorial
describing the British Institute of Facilities Management Annual Conference 2008 which was
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themed “Sustainable Facilities Management,” highlighting such areas as developing people and
fair pay, protecting the environment, and building sustainable communities especially as
workplaces become more virtual (Pitt, 2008).
The National Recreation and Parks Association held a Summit on Environmental
Stewardship which focused on people, parks, and public land and how to empower the
population to be part of the environmental changes needed to restore and sustain the public parks
and to reconnect people with nature (Speaking sustainably, 2008)
.
Restaurant chains were warned of the increasing competition of supermarkets and
encouraged to follow the lead of the Whole Foods Market’s actions on health, fair trade, buying
local, animal welfare, and sustainability (Kuhn & Chapman, 2008). Hakkasan, a Chinese
restaurant in the U.K., removed Shark fin soup from the menu after being criticized by customers
(Good week, 2008).
Six out of ten American customers will choose a restaurant based on its environmental
friendliness, according to the National Restaurant Association. Organic, sustainable, and local
foods are restaurant customers’ biggest concerns, and restaurants need to jump on the sustainable
bandwagon now before all their competitors pass them by (LaVecchia, 2008).
Ben & Jerry’s successfully utilizes a “Caring Dairy” sustainable farming program and
carefully audits its supply chain to meet its carbon neutral goal. Customers appreciate the
company’s commitment to the environment at no additional cost, which makes Ben & Jerry’s a
most appealing brand (Wills, 2008). Global Ethics is a not-for-product company that installs
PlayPumps, merry-go-rounds that pump water, in rural Africa to provide drinkable water for the
surrounding populations (Goose, 2008).
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While Sonesta International Hotels Corporation’s hotels all strive to “bring the outside
in” with décor and foods that are locally characteristic (Kovacs, 2008), several restaurants are
opening that are eco-friendly and using locally sourced ingredients (Kuhn & Chapman, 2008;
Artizian buys its first pub in London, 2008; Beaumont, 2008). Many new farms are being
designed to grow organic food that can be distributed locally. Farm distribution co-ops and
community-supported agriculture are good for local economies. The increasing demand for local
and sustainable food means a need for more sustainable farms, dairies, and poultry and livestock
operations, along with educating a new generation of farmers into sustainable practices (Plowing
toward utopia, 2008).
The Travelife Sustainability System helps hotels and suppliers to improve their
sustainability performance and then bestows awards for socially and environmentally responsible
practices (FTO’s sustainability scheme attracts 1,200 suppliers, 2008). The food distribution
supply chain must also respond to the growing demand for more sustainable food by addressing
issues such as increased fuel and food prices and air freighted food (Pendrous, 2008).
Fairtrade products are grown with organic methods, are more sustainable, and guarantee
Third World farmers fair prices but are more expensive, and in difficult economic times, doing
the right thing is harder for hospitality operators (Wheatley, 2008).
In Ecotourism and the Myth of Indigenous Stewardship, Fennell (2008a) reviews the
literature and argues that indigenous people are no different than any other people and are not
innate conservationists. “People, no matter where and when, have found it difficult to manage
resources in a sustainable way.” He concludes that eco tourism cannot erode a conservation ethic
in indigenous people if one does not exist to begin with and suggests that, perhaps, indigenous
ecotourism would be better presented as nature-based tourism.
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Conclusion
There was a 51% increase in the number of articles on ethics published in the hospitality
journals, from 55 in 2007 to 83 in 2008, and almost half of the articles were on Tourism Ethics
and Green/Sustainable Practices. Even though articles were divided into 12 categories, many of
the articles in the various categories were actually about Tourism Ethics or Green/Sustainable
Practices, such as articles about Codes of Ethics for ethical tourism. Of the 83 articles, 20 had to
do with Tourism Ethics and 20 had to do with Green/Sustainable Practices. Forty-eight percent
of the 2008 articles were about Tourism Ethics and Green/Sustainable Practices. The Tourism
Ethics articles were mostly from academic journals while the Green/Sustainable Practices
articles were from trade journals.
Eighteen percent of the articles in 2007 were about Corporate Responsibility (CSR) while
only 5% were about CSR in 2008. Green practices and sustainability are often elements of CSR
plans, so many of the articles that were categorized as Green/Sustainable Practices were actually
part of the larger Corporate Social Responsibility topic.
Since 2000 there had only been five articles on Company Values, until 2008 when there
were five articles in one year. There were two articles on Ethics and Leadership when there had
been none for 3 years and only four since 2000. The seven articles in the two topics were all
from trade journals and focused on the need for management to be trustworthy, to treat
employees with respect, and to provide meaningful jobs while helping employees to be their best
selves. This focus on positive relationships between workers and management is also an element
in many CSR plans.
The differences between the years are easily identified, however, the reasons for the
differences are more difficult to discern. The scope of Isbell Hospitality Ethics has traditionally
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been limited primarily to the hospitality industry in the United States. The Hospitality and
Tourism Index was originally published by the hospitality program at Purdue University and
indexed approximately 100 academic and trade journals. In the early 2000’s EBSCO Host took
over publishing the index and indexes approximately 700 journals, both academic and trade,
many of which are internationally published. The scope of Isbell Hospitality Ethics’ yearly
review of articles has widened as the index has changed over the years.
There has been a small but steady increase in articles about ethics appearing in the
hospitality journals since 2002 that can, most likely, be attributed to EBSCO Host’s much larger
data base. That does not, however, explain the 51% increase in articles from 2007 to 2008.
(Please see Figure 3.) Sixteen academic or trade journals were added to Figure 1 in 2008, but it is
unknown whether those journals, new to this review of 2008,
were new to the EBSCO data base
which could account for some additional articles.
There has been a change in the articles over the last few years, most obvious in 2008,
from concern over the unethical behaviors of individuals in U.S. hospitality and hospitality
related operations, to the more global concerns of sustainability for both companies and
communities. In the past, Topic 1 (Unethical Actions) was about employees lying, stealing, and
cheating. Topic 1 in 2008 was primarily about the negative results of tourism in vacation
destinations such as crime, tourist garbage, vandalism, noise, water shortages for residents, child
prostitution and abductions, and socio-culture character changes due to tourism.
Distributors and restaurants are encouraged to become more environmentally friendly by
providing organic and sustainably produced local food if they are to remain competitive as
customers’ desires change. Customer concern with fair trade and animal rights has also
increased. Even though many companies have either not developed Corporate Social
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Responsibility programs or are not yet meeting their CSR goals, most are now aware of the
importance of sustainability issues in the way they are doing business. Codes of conduct or
ethical standards have been adopted by many hospitality and tourism organizations, but are
mostly voluntary and not as effective as they could be if they were mandatory. Ethical
awareness, however, seems to have increased over time.
