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Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector
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Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 June 2022) | Viewed by 24151

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Beatriz Forés Julián

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Business Management and Marketing, Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castelló, Spain
Interests: strategic management; dynamic capabilities and innovation; sustainability; districts; family firms
Prof. Dr. César Camisón

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Interests: decision support systems; business organisation; corporate strategies; management; area of activity and strategy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Growing concern about the excessive consumption of resources, the degradation of ecosystems, and social inequalities has given rise to urgent calls for governments, companies and other organizations to apply actions and measures that enable a transition towards a more sustainable society and economy.

In this context, tourism companies, and the destinations of which they form part, need to do more to develop innovative competitive strategies that, apart from allowing them to identify and defend a unique position in the market, provide SDG-based solutions to growing social and environmental problems.

This objective of achieving sustainability—accounting for the economic, social and environmental spheres—will be increasingly difficult with strategies exclusively focused on efficiently managing tangible and financial assets. In a knowledge economy such as the one we live in, company results are ever more dependent on the wealth of the firm’s portfolio of intangible assets, which protect the company from imitation by carving out a different way of doing things.

The importance of managing these intangible assets to improve environmental performance is heightened in the tourism sector. Although research on sustainability issues has traditionally focused on the manufacturing industry, recent data on pollution produced by the tourism industry, its dependence on natural resources and the surrounding environment of competing tourism products, and its estimated exponential future growth have made it the focus of a growing number of recent publications, as well as business and political agendas.

In addition, the tourism sector is highly dependent on values ​​and capabilities such as reputation, trust, commitment and cooperation among a variety of agents (employees, clients, suppliers, governments, institutions, agencies, residents and tourists), creativity, innovation, technology and quality, on the basis of which differentiation strategies for sustainability can be established.

There is growing demand for tourism companies to adapt their business models around sustainability and the circular economy in response to the massive social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, it should be noted that the efforts mentioned above will be in vain if they are not appropriately transferred and communicated. The increased pressure from interest groups regarding tourism companies’ social and environmental performance, together with competitive pressure, are intensifying the pressure on them to complement their financial reporting with other non-financial reports.

Despite this recommendation, companies still face serious difficulties in implementing appropriate metrics of their sustainability and social responsibility actions to identify the impacts of their activity in relation to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Moreover, they face the challenge of translating them into monetary terms in order to prioritize the allocation of resources.

Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to include papers that contribute to this knowledge with conceptual or empirical studies that present new ideas, theories, advancements, experiences, evidence or methodologies that enhance the knowledge about the antecedents and outputs related to sustainability performance both at destination and firm level.

  • Explanatory factors of sustainability performance at the company level: distinguishing between resources, practices, capacities, corporate strategies, structure of ownership and corporate governance.
  • Mechanisms and strategies that ensure a balance/convergence between sustainability dimensions and competitiveness.
  • Explanatory factors of sustainability performance at the destination level: culture, policy-making and government initiatives, legislative and normative development, institutional and social pressure. The analysis of shared resources and capabilities of the tourist destination for sustainability performance, adopting the theoretical lens of the destination as a tourist district.
  • Mechanisms and practices that stimulate cooperation between agents of a tourist destination, with special emphasis on those that promote interaction between public and private spheres for sustainability performance. Related to this point, it is important to highlight practices to encourage stakeholder engagement with environmental interests (green supply chain enhancement).
  • Mechanisms and practices that allow environmental and social benefits to be leveraged to improve business performance and regional development.
  • Circular economy and tourism. Life cycle and maturity of destinations and evolution towards circular tourism.
  • Firm- and destination-level barriers to sustainability performance.
  • Tools and indicators to measure sustainability performance in its three spheres, at both firm and destination level.
  • Non-financial reporting as an expression of sustainability of the tourism industry
  • Experiences of sustainable companies and tourist destinations.

Prof. Dr. Beatriz Forés Julián
Prof. Dr. César Camisón
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability performance
  • sustainability of tourism firms
  • sustainability in tourism destinations
  • drivers of sustainable performance in tourism
  • natural resources and competitiveness in tourism
  • environmental management and competitive advantage in tourism
  • new responsible business models in tourism
  • cooperation in sustainability
  • green supply chain in tourism
  • sustainable development and tourism growth
  • sustainability innovation in tourism
  • circular economy and tourism
  • sustainability performance measurement
  • non-financial reporting in tourism firms
  • socially responsible tourism firms and destinations

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 645 KiB  
Article
Effective Resources to Mobilize Women Entrepreneurship: A Success Case Study of Family Tourism Businesses in Tioman Island, Malaysia
by Nurzafirah Dan and Tetsuo Shimizu
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9133; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159133 - 26 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1921
Abstract
Family-owned tourism businesses have unique resources to empower women in remote island destinations. There is limited literature that postulates the resource acquisition to mobilize women entrepreneurs within the family business study. Hence, this paper provided empirical knowledge on family tourism businesses methods to [...] Read more.
Family-owned tourism businesses have unique resources to empower women in remote island destinations. There is limited literature that postulates the resource acquisition to mobilize women entrepreneurs within the family business study. Hence, this paper provided empirical knowledge on family tourism businesses methods to mobilize women entrepreneurs in rural Tioman Island in Malaysia. This study employed a qualitative case study approach by applying in-depth interviews for data collection. A successful case study was carried out in Tioman Island with 11 women entrepreneurs who have been actively involved in family tourism business operations since the 1980s. The resulting opportunities from the family organization setting, familiness nature and tourism industry as a setting modifier have greatly mobilized women into family tourism entrepreneurship. Thus, this case study provided comprehensive information on family tourism businesses’ implications on women entrepreneurs’ competitiveness in Tioman Island. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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18 pages, 707 KiB  
Article
Information Disclosure and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Evidence from the Spanish Tourism Industry
by Sergio Camisón-Haba, Tomás Gonzáles-Cruz and José Antonio Clemente-Almendros
Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 6977; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14126977 - 07 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1697
Abstract
Of all the resources and capabilities that have a well-established impact on decision-making, information stands out. With the advent of the digital economy, organizations have been making significant information and communication technology (ICT) investments, but the empirical evidence of the impact of these [...] Read more.
Of all the resources and capabilities that have a well-established impact on decision-making, information stands out. With the advent of the digital economy, organizations have been making significant information and communication technology (ICT) investments, but the empirical evidence of the impact of these investments on business outcomes has been inconsistent. This article studies the conditions that disclosed information resources and ICT must fulfil in order to become a source of sustainable competitive advantage in tourism organizations. The results point to the need to identify distinct financial and non-financial information dimensions, distinguished according to their direct potential for creating and maintaining competitive advantages through the improvement in relations with various stakeholders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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11 pages, 1299 KiB  
Article
Tourism–Growth Nexus in the Presence of Instability
by Yonglian Wang, Lijun Wang and Changchun Pan
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2170; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042170 - 14 Feb 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1423
Abstract
This paper contributes to the tourism–growth literature by applying the new vector autoregressive-based Granger causality test in the presence of instability to reassess the Granger causality between Hong Kong’s tourism and economic growth. The results of the traditional and recursive Granger causality test [...] Read more.
This paper contributes to the tourism–growth literature by applying the new vector autoregressive-based Granger causality test in the presence of instability to reassess the Granger causality between Hong Kong’s tourism and economic growth. The results of the traditional and recursive Granger causality test under the VAR framework show that the tourism-led economic growth hypothesis (TLEGH) and the economy-driven tourism growth hypothesis (EDTGH) are both unstable in Hong Kong. The results of the vector autoregressive-based Granger causality test in the presence of instability generally support bidirectional causality between tourism and economic growth. However, the relationship between tourism and economic growth is vulnerable to sudden major political incidents, public health incidents, and financial crises. Among these incidents and crises, political events have long-term effects on the relationship between Hong Kong’s tourism and economic growth. In contrast, economic policies, financial crises, and public health emergencies have short-term impacts on the relationship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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16 pages, 1064 KiB  
Article
Understanding Job Stress and Organizational Effectiveness of Airline Employees Due to Changes in the Employment Environment under COVID-19—Focusing on the Difference in the GAD-7 of Employees
by Dong-Jin Shin, Yeon-Sun Kim and Bo-Kyeong Kim
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13722; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413722 - 13 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3318
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the job stress of employees due to changes in the employment environment of airlines under COVID-19 and job burnout and turnover intention. GAD-7 was applied to verify the influence relationship linking job [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the job stress of employees due to changes in the employment environment of airlines under COVID-19 and job burnout and turnover intention. GAD-7 was applied to verify the influence relationship linking job stress, job burnout and turnover intention, using a structural equation model according to anxiety, namely, COVID blues. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for the relationship linking job stress, job burnout and turnover intention of employees due to changes in the employment environment resulting from the business crisis of airlines under the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing since 2020. In addition, it was possible to understand the degree of impact on stress, job burnout and turnover intention by measuring the anxiety disorder of employees, i.e., COVID-19 blues, due to the prolonged pandemic. This study provides basic data on human management measures in the aviation field. Furthermore, according to the results of this study, changes in the employment environment led to job stress in employees, which in turn increased employee job burnout and turnover intention. These results can provide practical implications and help human resource managers to better manage employees, as it was revealed that both changes in the organization of employees and changes in the employment environment of temporary employees increase job stress. Lastly, in the situation where COVID-19 and its associated blues continue, the GAD-7 scale, typically used for patients in hospitals, was applied to airline employees to determine their anxiety levels and psychological state, representing an effective method of lowering intention to leave, job stress and job burnout. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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19 pages, 1157 KiB  
Article
Open Innovation and Competitive Advantage on the Hospitality Sector: The Role of Organizational Strategy
by Francisco Musiello-Neto, Orlando Lima Rua, Mario Arias-Oliva and Amélia Ferreira Silva
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13650; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413650 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3809
Abstract
This paper assesses the relationship between open innovation and competitive advantage and the mediating effect of organizational strategy. Using a quantitative methodological approach with survey data from 251 Portuguese hotel executive directors’ small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this research adopted a quantitative methodological [...] Read more.
This paper assesses the relationship between open innovation and competitive advantage and the mediating effect of organizational strategy. Using a quantitative methodological approach with survey data from 251 Portuguese hotel executive directors’ small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this research adopted a quantitative methodological approach, thereby conducting an exploratory and transversal study. Findings show that (1) open innovation influences organizational strategy and (2) organizational strategy enhances competitive advantage. Moreover, the results also highlight that (3) organizational strategy has a mediating effect between open innovation and competitive advantage. The paper provides relevant insights that will lead the firms’ top managers to design and implement strategies and define effective government policies, programs, and incentives to support the development of the firms’ open innovation model in the hospitality sector considering the new smart society and smart cities growing environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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13 pages, 868 KiB  
Article
How to Enhance Sustainability through Technology Usage: An Analysis of Managerial Capabilities and Gender in the Tourism Sector
by Olga Broto, Alba Puig-Denia and Rafael Lapiedra
Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13398; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313398 - 03 Dec 2021
Viewed by 1506
Abstract
New technologies are enabling not only ever-increasing levels of production efficiency but also socially and environmentally sustainable development. Although sustainability is a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral concept, many studies have shown that technology is a significant component. However, both sustainability and the impact of [...] Read more.
New technologies are enabling not only ever-increasing levels of production efficiency but also socially and environmentally sustainable development. Although sustainability is a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral concept, many studies have shown that technology is a significant component. However, both sustainability and the impact of technology use on sustainability ultimately depend on one crucial element: people. Therefore, in this article, as well as analysing the impact of technology use on the sustainability of an organisation, we examine two additional factors that may influence its sustainability: gender and managerial capabilities. Specifically, this paper aims to study the effects of technology on sustainability, focusing on the social dimension of sustainability and on an analysis of how gender and managerial capabilities moderate said relationship. To do so, we carried out a regression analysis on a sample of 195 Spanish hotels with between 3 and 5 stars. The results indicate that managerial capabilities are essential for harnessing technology and that women and men take advantage of its possibilities in different ways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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33 pages, 3274 KiB  
Article
A Bibliometric Overview of Tourism Family Business
by Beatriz Forés, Zélia Breithaupt Janssen and Heitor Takashi Kato
Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12822; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212822 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2816
Abstract
Family businesses are of particular economic relevance in the international hospitality and tourism industry. However, there are few studies that address their specific characteristics and objectives. The aim of this study is to produce a bibliometric overview that reveals the structure underpinning the [...] Read more.
Family businesses are of particular economic relevance in the international hospitality and tourism industry. However, there are few studies that address their specific characteristics and objectives. The aim of this study is to produce a bibliometric overview that reveals the structure underpinning the analysis of the tourism family business in the business and management research field. The study also reveals the evolution of this research over time, as well as the most relevant related concepts and study gaps. Through a keyword co-occurrence analysis and a systematic review of 129 studies on tourism family businesses published between 1997 and 2020, the main contributions were organized into four thematic clusters, which include specific theoretical approaches. The clusters are Entrepreneurship, Marketing Orientation and Innovation Performance; Capabilities and Competitiveness; Sustainability; and Strategy and Economic Performance. On the basis of these results, this study introduces an integrative framework for tourism family business research, clarifying the rich diversity of research paths that seek to explain tourism business competitiveness, and identifying potential directions for future research aimed at further developing the field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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29 pages, 1160 KiB  
Article
Residents’ Perception of Changing Local Conditions in the Context of Tourism Development: The Case of Phuket Island
by Pisit Tuntipisitkul, Takuji W. Tsusaka, Sohee Minsun Kim, Rajendra P. Shrestha and Nophea Sasaki
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8699; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168699 - 04 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6237
Abstract
Lack of understanding of the ways local subpopulations perceive various changes associated with rapid growth of the tourism industry may lead to unsustainable development. This study assessed the levels and determinants of residents’ perception regarding the changes in environmental, sociocultural, and economic conditions [...] Read more.
Lack of understanding of the ways local subpopulations perceive various changes associated with rapid growth of the tourism industry may lead to unsustainable development. This study assessed the levels and determinants of residents’ perception regarding the changes in environmental, sociocultural, and economic conditions associated with tourism development in Phuket, Thailand. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted with 450 residents covering all three districts of Phuket Province to capture overall indicators and detailed sub-indicators of perception, whilst factors affecting the perceived changes were examined through ordered logistic regression and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) analyses. The descriptive statistics showed that residents perceived unfavorable changes in various conditions in the island such as increased levels of pollution, road accidents, traffic congestion, and costs of living, while at the same time acknowledging the importance of long-term economic contribution of tourism development. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that various sociodemographic factors such as gender, education, residency duration, and occupation influenced residents’ perception of the changing local conditions. At the sub-indicator level, detailed insights were obtained such as female residents being more likely to positively perceive some of the changes such as increased availability of public space. Implications and suggestions for policy design and planning are discussed in detail. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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