Principles of Sustainable Tourism-RTM 481

Principles of Sustainable Tourism Final – Stakeholder Immersion – Resort

The position of the Corporate Manager attains the role of advocating crucial sustainable development that can never be achieved without “involving a comprehensive range of stakeholders in all stages of the development process, from policymaking to project implementation”(Maiden, 2008). As Corporate Manager in charge of the Destiny Luxury Eco Resort development, I should make sure tourism will reach greater levels of sustainability, but not unless I involve stakeholders to participate, then I will not meet development goals. I should have an interest in collaborating with stakeholders. I want Destiny Luxury Eco Resort to move to the next international level. I think creating partnerships with stakeholders will drive resort to deliver more dynamic and strategic goals. Having a widespread interest in stakeholders, the big question is, how can I reach visionary stakeholders and increase coordination between the stakeholders and me?

As a Corporate Manager in charge of the Destiny Luxury Eco Resort development, I should understand stakeholder are a large variety of interest groups who help in making environmental decisions, a financial decision, and policy-making decision. So I know the fraternity of stakeholders include regulators, banks, local government, higher education institutions, companies’ employees, NGOs, and customers. In general, stakeholders are the whole community which interacts with my organization in one way or another, and “affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives” (Leal & Brandli, 2016). As they interact with me, they are supposed to examine my business practices and help me “determine my long-term social and environmental impacts, as well to innovate my business models, products and services” (Leal & Brandli 2016), I offer in the tourism sector. I learned that stakeholder have the “ability to influence the success or failure of my operations “(Leal & Brandli, 2016).

Another role I should get involved as a Corporate Manager is by taking part in the engagement process. This is the process through which I should exchange information, listen to, and get to learn through cooperation. The major aim of this process is to “drive the strategic direction and operational excellence for organizations and to contribute to the kind of sustainable development from which organizations, their stakeholders and wider society can benefit from” (Leal & Brandli, 2016). I will make sure this process of stakeholder engagement leads to collaborations that aim to bring forth ideas and decisions that will lead Destiny Luxury Eco Resort to a more effective tourism organization. Through the same process, I with the stakeholders, can find solutions to some of the sustainability issues impacting my organization.

Being a Corporate Manager in charge of the Destiny Luxury Eco Resort, I will not assume the importance of tourism sustainability as the core thing that drives me development. Therefore, I will let supportive members understand the aspects of sustainability and the reasons for sustainability. I learned that “when an organization incorporates sustainability practices into its processes, it takes responsibility for the impact of its activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and the environment through all aspects of operations” (Tharp, 2012). In this case, my organization is a tourism sector, so I can define sustainable tourism as “a condition of tourism based on the principles of sustainable development, taking full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts” (Hardy & Pearson, 2016). From this definition, we can examine the aspect of sustainability.

One aspect of sustainability is the environment. The environment harbors the resources my organization will depend on to offer goods and surfaces to my potential customers. Destiny Luxury Eco Resort development provides the following services, accommodation, meals, relaxation and recreation, and other basic amnesties. In the aspect of the environment, I am committed to ensuring my organization observes pollution prevention measures. I am very supportive of climate change mitigation. I value the aspect of human rights because I discourage discrimination of vulnerable groups and observe fundamental rights and principles used in my resort. The aspect of consumer and community engagement plays a significant role in reaching both locals and international tourists. In general, I try to balance the economic, social, and environmental aspects.

I have learned various reasons why we should care about tourism sustainability, and I think the group of people who benefit a lot is the local community. Sustainable tourism has contributed in a big way in creating jobs and expanding the local economy. Hotels, tours, accommodation dining, and airfare business thrive mostly because of tourism. The foreign exchange that flows into the sector help in infrastructure development and upgrades the lives of the local community (Mihalic, 2016). Tourism also helped the locals to embrace multiculturalism. Through sustainability, the locals are no longer displaced or disrupted as a result of expanding tourism. We have human rights under tourism sustainability that care for the local population. Another important reason why I should care about tourism sustainability is that it helps to preserve resources and conserve destinations for future tourist sites.

After understanding the main aspect of sustainable tourism, I would consider the long-term sustainability and make it the first project I should achieve this season. Despite the pandemic Covid -19 affecting the tourism sector, I am very optimistic our businesses will resume and continue working for its development goals but with cooperation with stakeholders. I do face challenges to achieve long-term sustainability, such as conflict of interest and barriers. Sometimes I lack a unified scheme to engage stakeholders because of “an enormous variety of interest groups” (Leal & Brandli, 2016). Barriers to reaching the stakeholder I want in a direct dialogue is another challenge that prevents my organization from long-term sustainability.

References

Hardy, A., & Pearson, L. J. (2016). Determining sustainable tourism in regions. Sustainability, 8(7), 660.

Leal Filho, W., & Brandli, L. (2016). Engaging stakeholders for sustainable development. In Engaging Stakeholders in Education for Sustainable Development at University Level (pp. 335-342). Springer, Cham.

Maiden, J. A. (2008). Participation in sustainable tourism development: Stakeholders & partnership working. Cardiff University.

Tharp, J. (2012). Project management and global sustainability. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2012—EMEA, Marsailles, France. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.