The Impact of Responsible Tour Operators on Travel - Essay Example

?THE IMPACT OF RESPONSIBLE TOUR OPERATORS ON TRAVEL Introduction There is increasing preferences towards more ethical consumption and sustainable tourism experiences which do not allow the degradation of natural resources, or support injustice or unfairness in trade practices. Additionally, the earlier trend of vacationing in sun, sand and sea settings is increasingly being replaced by more experiential vacations at destinations that provide fulfilment and rejuvenation rather than sight-seeing of places and things. Consequently, tour operators and destination marketeers “will need to engage the customer as never before, to be able to provide them with the information and experience they are increasingly able to demand” (Goodwin & Francis 2003: 271). With the growing importance of the lifestyle market, tourism and travel create the desired lifestyle and personal enhancement rather than many other lifestyle products. Consequently, destination marketing organizations would have to reinvent themselves to create holiday experiences in relation to the changing requirements of customers. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which responsible tour operators are changing the way we travel. The Background to Tourists’ Orientation For Responsible Tourism Nearly twenty-five years ago, Krippendorf (1987) argued for responsible tourism, using the theory of Maslow’s pyramid of needs. He predicted that there would be an increase in “emancipated tourists”, who once their needs for physical sustenance through sleeping, eating and drinking were fulfilled in a recreational manner, they would seek emotional recreation by undertaking activities and experiences not available to them in everyday life. Consequently, tourists would seek experiences of social contact with other people and “self realization through creative activities, knowledge and exploration” (Krippendorf 1999: 74). The new enlightened tourist was expected to be an independent and emancipated holidayer and a critical consumer in all spheres of life. The trend towards less passive holidaymaking and towards more active and experiential vacationing impacts all destination marketing organizations, tour operators, and travel agents. The various distribution agencies have to relate the holiday experiences they sell to the aspirations and needs of customers. This trend is based on the larger shift in consumer preferences towards the purchase of green products which do not adversely affect the environment in their production processes, and ethically traded products based on fair trade practices and corporate social responsibility. Recent survey evidence (King 2002) confirms changes in consumer attitudes in the context of wider market trends towards more ethical consumerism in the United Kingdom. Campaigns undertaken by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and Tearfund helped to increase the orientation towards responsible and ethical tourism as a market segment. Responsible Tourism Responsible tourism involves a proactive approach by tourism industry partners to “developing, marketing and managing the tourism industry in a responsible manner so as to create a competitive advantage” (Pennington-Gray, Reisinger, Kim et al 2005: 266). Responsible tourism is a management strategy that includes planning, management, product development and marketing to bring about positive economic, social, cultural, and environmental effects. This type of tourism promotes responsibility to the environment through sustainable measures, as well as involving local communities in the tourism industry. Additionally, responsible tourism is focused on the safety and security of a visitor. Government agencies, employees of the tourism industry and those outside the industry, as well as members of the local communities together hold the responsibility. Besides environmental sustainability and the safety and security of visitors, other aspects include culturally responsible tourism which contributes to mutual understanding and respect for the “local culture, for ethical values, diversity, religion, customs, moral beliefs and social traditions” (Pennington-Gray et al 2005: 267). between peoples and societies. The tourism operators ensure that visitors are prepared beforehand with adequate information regarding all the above factors. Simlarly, a culturally responsible tourist also has to understand that their behaviour may affect the experiences and feelings of the host community. Tour operators should educate tourists on the cultural aspects of the destination visited. Such education helps to create awareness among both groups, and aids further learning about each other’s culture. Not only holiday experiences will be improved, but knowledge and understanding about foreign cultures will promote international cooperaton and cultural and economic sustainability (Reisinger & Turner 2003). Further, tour operators have a responsibility to prevent potential impacts on tourism destination sites. The impacts may be “loss of privacy, prevention of access to culturally significant plalces, invasion of sacred sites or the demeaning of cultural ceremonies, all of which can result from tourist visitation” (Pennington-Gray et al 2005: 270). The responsible tour operator demonstrates respect to the host country by negotiating with them the conditions required for tourist visits. These conditions may include the recognition of acceptable activities, suitable group size and appropriate places for tourist visitation. Tour operators should inform tourists about asking permission to take photographs or to videotape local people, and should ensure that they do not damage or remove religious or cultural artefacts. Direct mail and glitzy brochures are the most effective forms of communication and promotion used by tour operators. The travel brochure is one of the most widely utilized information sources. They include information on prices, itineraries, company information and even testimonials. The travel brochure creates “attention, interest, desire and action” (Pennington-Gray et al 2005: 267). Potential tourists’ travel decisions are influenced by promotional brochures. The role of brochures in influencing responsible behaviour of the tourist is advocated by Voluntary Service Overseas. VSO WorldWise (1998) also suggests that policies should be developed for businesses on the ways in which the holiday could help people living in the travel destination. Further information and action is required in this area, for optimizing the hosts’ quality of life. It is commonly perceived that the more information consumers have about responsible behaviours, the more responsible their actions will be. The researchers found that over 54 percent of American tourists surveyed reported having a better travel experience when they had learned about a destination’s customs, geography and culture. 33 percent of American travellers were influenced by a travel company’s measures for preserving the environment, history or culture of the destination visited. Tour operators’ marketing communications include responsible philosophies and tourism practices in recognition of the demand for and benefits of educational services provided by the travel industry. The main purpose of the research study conducted by Pennington-Gray et al (2005) was to explore travel brochures of United States’ tour operators for information on tourists’ culturally responsible behaviour in Kenya. The authors found that very few travel brochures of US tour operators educated the tourist about culturally responsible behaviours. The findings of this study correlate with that of research conducted by Pennington-Gray and Thapa (2004), who had examined 264 websites of various tourist destinations in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Middle East, Central/ South America, Oceania/ South Pacific and North America for information on culturally responsible tourism, particularly customs, protocols and habits. The researchers found that only 12 percent of the websites in the study sample included information on the destination’s culture that was important for tourists. In most cases, the social customs and cultural respect issues were the least frequently communicated. Responsible Tour Operators Support Ethical Tourism According to the survey conducted by Goodwin and Francis (2003), there is an increasing trend for tour operators adopting responsible tourism policies. The reasons given by tour operators include the need to satisfy knowledgeable travellers, and also because the principles of ethical tourism were integral to the company, most of them being independently managed by the owner. Less than a third of the companies said that their reason for adopting responsible tourism was for differentiating themselves from mainstream tourism; while none of the companies overtly said that they aimed at commercial advantage. Weeden (2002) has argued that ethical tourism allows tourism operators and companies to compete on more than just price. Krippendorf (1999) supports this view, stating that in a competitive market, sales often depend on a unique selling proposition (USP), and a responsible tourism commitment is an added value which has the potential to secure additional bookings. Thus, when competing holidays and trips provide similar conveniences and attractions, competitive advantage is likely for the responsible tourism aspects of a particular trip. Research was conducted by Francis (2000) into attitudes towards responsible tourism among tourism operators ranging from large, medium to small scale operators. The author concluded that while the tourist’s key decision making areas continue to be the destination, price, services and departure date, when a number of tourism operators are almost on par in these attributes, those operators practising responsible tourism had an advantage over those who did not. Hence all tourism operators endeavoured to create points of difference and unique selling points (USPs) between their products and those of their competitors. They believed that this was a vital part that differentiated their tourism product from that of other companies. According to Weeden (2002), research studies in psychology highlight the problem of discrepancy between the conscience of the consumer and their actual purchasing behaviour. This phenomenon does not occur in tourism alone. There are various reasons for consumers to purchase holidays from tourism operators, and various requirements play significant parts at the moment of decision. Tourists’ choices are dictated by price and availability, and the responsible elements of a tourism product form only one aspect of the motivation to purchase. However, increasing numbers of operators are finding responsible tourism to be a significant part. Several knowledgeable consumers expect the suppliers they purchase from to provide economically, socially and environmentally responsible products. However, they may not be prepared to pay high prices for responsible, ethically traded products. According to the affordability and the priority that they accord to the ethical dimension of the product, they will pay a greater or lesser premium, in comparison to more traditional criteria for purchasing. “The smaller the premium for a more responsible product, the more likely consumers are to purchase it” (Goodwin & Francis 2003: 282). The United Kingdom tourism market being highly competitive, few operators can ignore the ethical tourism preferences of a significant percentage of their clients. At the same time, they cannot pay any price to satisfy their clients, because operators cannot run a sustainable business without making profits. Thus, it is evident that for both tourists as well as for operators there is a trade-off between economics and aspirations towards responsible tourism. Where consumers are predisposed to purchase, superior products of responsible tourism components will attract them. The responsible tourism product has one advantage over several other ethical products: the consumer will be able to experience the difference from other products. For example, a cup of fairly traded tea or coffee will not differ in taste as compared to other teas and coffees. It can taste as good, but not better. However, on the other hand, responsible tourism holidays “particularly which provide high quality engagement with the local communities and their environments can provide a superior product” (Goodwin & Francis 2003: 283), the life-enhancing experience that increasing numbers of tourists seek. The Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO 1998) WorldWise advice to the tourism industry includes the following suggestions: Tour operators should give customers more information about the people and the places they will be visiting, in brochures. Advice on how tourists can visit locally owned facilities and resorts, and the ways in which the holidays they provide could be of greater benefit to people living the tourism destinations should be included. In this connection, hotels should start buying more goods and services locally and reduce imports; and they should be required to start an environmental management program to prevent depletion of natural resources. This information should be given to the tourists through the preliminary information provided. Conclusion This paper has highlighted responsible tourism, and investigated the extent to which responsible tour operators are changing the way we travel. Responsible tourism includes preservation of environmental sustainability of the host destination. Further, promoting ethical tourism through creating benefits for the destination community, and ensuring that only fair trade practices are encouraged through tourist products and services. The responsible tour operators also need to take care of the safety and security of tourists. Further, tour operators should educate tourists on the cultural aspects of the destination visited, through brochures and their travel websites. However, evidence from research indicates that in the tourism websites of most countries and travel destinations, very little information is provided regarding the cultural practices and behaviours of the host country. Therefore, it is concluded that a great deal of work in this area is required through adequate measures to ensure cultural understanding, in order to promote international cooperation and mutual support for sustainability. Bibliography Francis, J. (2000). Can the internet be used to expedite the growth of more responsible forms of tourism by creating an online marketplace of prescreened and monitored products/ services. MSc Dissertation, University of Greenwich. Goodwin, H. & Francis, J. (2003). Ethical and responsible tourism: Consumer trends in the U.K. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 9 (3): pp.271-284. King, J. (2002). Destination marketing organisations: Connecting the experience rather than promoting the place. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 8 (2): pp.105-108. Krippendorf, J. (1987, 1999). The holiday makers. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Pennington-Gray, L., Reisinger, Y., Kim, J.E. & Thapa, B. (2005). Do U.S. tour operators’ brochures educate the tourist on culturally responsible behaviours? A case study for Kenya. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 11 (3): pp.265-286. Pennington-Gray, L. & Thapa, B. (2004). Culturally responsible tourism: Are DMOs doing a good job of educating the tourists? Tourism, 52 (2): pp.183-194. Reisenger, Y. & Turner, L. (2003). Cross-cultural behaviour in tourism: Concepts and analysis. Oxford: Elsevier/ Butterworth-Heinemann. Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO WorldWise). (1998). Travelling to a fairer world. London: Voluntary Service Overseas Publications. Weeden, C. (2002). Ethical tourism: An opportunity for competitive advantage. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 8 (2): pp.141-153. Read More