Progress in Responsible Tourism
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Progress in Responsible Tourism Volume 3(1) April 2014 Editors: Harold Goodwin and Xavier Font Progress in Responsible Tourism Volume 3(1) April 2014 Contents Editorial 4 Harold Goodwin Academic Papers Donor funded tourism projects: factors for success 7 Xavier Font, Harold Goodwin, and Rachael Walton Community-based tourism in the developing world: delivering the goods? 31 Harold Goodwin, Rosa Santilli, and Rebecca Armstrong The role of conservation agencies in ecotourism: a case study from Central Kalimantan in Indonesia 57 Astrid J. Øvstetun and Janet Cochrane Environmental, social and governance communication in investor relations: challenges and opportunities in the travel and tourism sector 83 Sören Stöber Dialogic communications: A content analysis of the Australian and Costa Rican official tourism websites 106 Claudia Pinto Zeballos Attitudes of Polish owner-managers of agritourism farms and small accommodation businesses towards environmental engagement 123 Piotr Zientara and Paulina Bohdanowicz-Godfrey The Awards The 2013 World Responsible Tourism Awards 145 Harold Goodwin Published by Goodfellow Publishers Limited, (G) Woodeaton, Oxford, OX3 9TJ http://www.goodfellowpublishers.com Copyright © Goodfellow Publishers 2014 ISBN: 978-1-910158-03-6 All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Design and typesetting by P.K. McBride, www.macbride.org.uk 3 Progress in Responsible Tourism Vol 3(1) Editorial The International Centre for Responsible Tourism continues in its transition towards an independent organisation with its own agenda, activities and membership more obviously since the last issue, as Harold Goodwin has moved to Manchester Metro- politan University while Xavier Font remains in Leeds Metropolitan University. This is good news for everyone in involved in Responsible Tourism. The ICRT became a registered social enterprise in 2012. The UK ICRT now has Directors employed in two different UK universities and the opportunities for growth are significant. The Centres for Responsible Tourism at Leeds and Manchester will doubtless define complementary Masters Degrees and research focuses. The ICRT has space to grow and to develop its own agenda, benefits for members, partnerships and funding mechanisms. The future is positive. The future will belong to those who engage and realise the ambitions of the ICRT. In this spirit of collaboration, this issue has been edited by Xavier Font and published during the 8th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University on 3-5 April 2013. It is fitting that the confer- ence takes place for the first time in the UK, after touring several continents, at a time of change for the ICRT. More than ever we need to work with our alumni, friends and supporters in the UK and around the world to develop a collective sense of belonging and purpose, to develop an agenda to encourage individuals, businesses and destina- tions to take responsibility to be more sustainable. The articles in this issue focus on different aspects of that process of taking responsi- bility. Three papers look at the thorny issue of donor funded project success and failure. Thorny because it is often compared with the children’s story of the emperor’s cloak: we may know he is naked but it is in nobody’s interest to say so. Both reflect the recent research interests of the editors themselves. Using a Delphi study commissioned by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development to better identify pre-funding the characteristics of more successful projects, Font Goodwin and Walton use the same survey was also used to better understand why projects also fail. In doing so we open the pandora’s box of acknowledging that project failure happens, in order to learn from it. Acknowledging failure is less common that one would hope: an unknown source close to us working in a donor organisation shared that ill-defined projects that fail to achieve the objectives are filed as having “long term potential” rather than failures, for acknowledging failure reduces budgets and the status of tourism as a programme within the donor agency. We are pleased that our research informed the Global Partner- ship’s approach to reducing donor risk through their project screening guidelines, 4 Progress in Responsible Tourism Vol 3(1) while we would like to continue the debate of how to make tax payer funded projects more transparent on their outcomes, and by necessity make the design of projects more realistic. The application of well-intended but ill-designed donor funding is particularly evident in community based tourism. Goodwin, Santilli and Armstrong report on a two stage study to identify successful community based projects. What is concerning from this study is that of 750 experts, only 133 initiatives that they considered successful could be identified- and that from these, actually only 15 would strictly be community based initiatives, and 6 would have economic sustainability. Their study shows the challenges of funded projects self-promoting their success without rigorous examina- tion. Our third paper reviews the struggles as well as the opportunities for conservation agencies wrestling with tourism which arise from the fact that now much of the funding now available for conservation comes with strings, usually on the socio-economic impacts expected from alternative, green economies, and tourism has for years been seen as one of these. Øvstetun and Cochrane exemplify well the principles outlined the two previous papers, illustrated with the experience of WWF in Sebangau National Park, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The benefits of tourism for conservation and towards the local communities are not evident, lacking both the commercial awareness and the stakeholder collaboration needed. Our next two articles take on two aspects of corporate governance: investment and public relations. The communication of environmental, social and governance as part of investor relations is analysed by Sören Stöber. As part of socially responsible investment, the communication of corporate social performance (usually through CSR reports), more recently framed under the concept of environmental, social and governance, should help international companies demonstrate their due diligence and create investor confidence. The results of this study however show how ESG information is usually handled by the sustainability department with limited involvement from the investor relations depart- ment, it is seen as bureaucratic and burdensome, and investors do not pay attention to the content. The paper suggests that strengthened legislation, integrated reporting, investor and business coalition initiatives as well as improved metrics all will help main- stream ESG integration into corporate reporting and overall investor relations. Our public relations article reports on the ability of National Tourist Offices (NTOs) to fairly represent the resources of countries as a tourist draw, as the danger of the commercialisation of a nation’s culture is an issue of responsible tourism. This paper is unique to our field in applying literature from public relations, which provides a more nuanced reading of what an NTO is supposed to do. Using five features of dialogue theory (ease of the interface, usefulness of information, generation of return 5 Progress in Responsible Tourism Vol 3(1) visits, conservation of visitors and dialogic loop), it compares the communication and commoditization of culture in the Australian and Costa Rican official tourism websites. The findings show how computer-mediated communications have allowed NTOs to evolve from a one-way communication structure to a more emphatic and responsive approach; where the public´s views are being considered. Regardless of the particular communication tool that is employed, what is relevant here is that new technologies are being learnt and applied by public relations professionals in their daily operations. However it is not clear that a nation with strong governmental intervention will incor- porate a more social and cultural dimension within its communications strategy than a country with major private funding for promotional activities. Our next article reminds us how it is important to also challenge our stereotypes of who is environmentally friendly and for what reasons, if we are to empower more people to take responsibility. Interviews of owner-managers in agritourism businesses in Southern Poland show greater knowledge of and commitment towards the environment than surveys may have indicated previously, and placed all the reasons for not acting as being external (lack of funding, resources, information, facilities) rather than internal (time or commitment). Zientara and Bohdanowicz-Godfrey’s paper is innovative because it breaks away from the conception that pro-sustainability is a Western priority, and helps us move towards a more nuanced understanding of what the environment may mean in different contexts. A qualitative, contextualised analysis of what