practitioner papers ethical and responsible tourism...

Practitioner Papers

Ethical and responsible tourism:Consumer trends in the UK

Harold Goodwin� and Justin FrancisReceived (in revised form): 26th January, 2003Reviewed paper

�International Centre for Responsible Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,

University of Greenwich, Medway University Campus, Pembroke, ChathamMaritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1795 532737; Fax: +44 (0)1795 539728; E-mail: [email protected]

Harold Goodwin co-founded responsibletravel.

com and is Director of the International Centre for

Responsible Tourism at the University of Green-

wich. His consultancy and research work has

been at the interface of tourism, conservation

and sustainable development for local commu-

nities in the developing world.

Justin Francis, CEO and Co-founder of respon-

sibletravel.com, an internet travel company which

markets ‘holidays that give the world a break’, is

a consultant trainer on corporate social responsi-

bility and concerned with developing and market-

ing responsible tourism. Justin has an MSc in

tourism, conservation and sustainable develop-

ment from the University of Greenwich.

ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS: responsible tourism, ethicalconsumers, tour operators, market trends

Responsible tourism is emerging as a significantmarket trend in the UK as wider consumer markettrends towards lifestyle marketing and ethical con-sumption spread to tourism. This paper reviewsrecent survey evidence about consumer attitudestowards the responsible and ethical aspects of thetourism they consume, and places this in the

context of campaigns by Voluntary Service Over-seas and Tearfund. Between 1999 and 2001 thepercentage of UK holidaymakers aspiring to bewilling to pay more for an ethical holiday increasedby 7 per cent from 45 per cent to 52 per cent. Theevidence for increasing consumer demand for re-sponsible tourism is reported and the paper con-cludes with a discussion of the implications.

INTRODUCTIONThere is increasing recognition of the signifi-cant shift away from the predominance ofthe traditional sun, sand and sea holidaytowards more experiential vacations: holi-daymakers are seeking holidays which pro-vide them with more than two weeks on thebeach and a tan. John King argued in thisjournal in March 2002 that ‘successful desti-nation marketers will need to engage thecustomer as never before, to be able toprovide them with the type of informationand experience they are increasingly able todemand’. He went on to argue that travel isincreasingly ‘about experiences, fulfilmentand rejuvenation’ rather than about ‘placesand things’; and that the lifestyle market is ofincreasing importance. King argues thattourism and travel are more about lifestyle

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Journal of Vacation MarketingVol. 9 No. 3, 2003, pp. 271–284,& Henry Stewart Publications,1356-7667

and personal enhancement than many otherlifestyle products. ‘Lifestyle marketing tendsto focus on and confirm more of what thecustomer would like to see in and of them-selves rather than on any physical propertiesof the product or service being promoted’,King stated, concluding that this will requirethat destination marketing organisations(DMOs) reinvent themselves and the em-phasis needs to shift towards ‘creating holi-day experiences and connecting them withthe customer’.

1

This paper considers recent survey evi-dence of changes in consumer attitudes inthe context of wider market trends towardsmore ethical consumption in the UK. Cam-paigns by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)and Tearfund contributed to the develop-ment of ethical and responsible tourism as amarket segment — those campaigns are re-ported and the implications of these trendsare considered.King is not alone in identifying these

trends towards more experiential vacations.Fifteen years ago Krippendorf placed hisargument for responsible tourism in thecontext of Maslow’s pyramid of needs, ar-guing that we would increasingly see‘emancipated tourists’, and that once theirneeds for physical recreation (sleeping, eat-ing and drinking) were satisfied touristswould seek ‘emotional recreation’, pursuingactivities and experiences which were notavailable to them in everyday life. Touristswould increasingly seek ‘the satisfaction ofsocial needs: contact with other people andself-realization through creative activities,knowledge and exploration’. He envisaged amovement towards a new holidaymaker,‘an independent and emancipated tourist, acritical consumer not only at home but alsowhen travelling’.

2While in Krippendorf’s

terms passive and uncritical tourists still out-number active and enlightened ones, thereis mounting evidence of the pursuit of ‘self-realization and fulfilment in all spheres oflife’.

3

This market trend towards less passiveholidaymaking and towards more active andexperiential vacationing affects DMOs, touroperators and travel agents — all distribution

agencies need to link the holiday experiencesthey sell to the aspirations and needs ofcustomers.

4This trend is widely based. It is a

specific example of the consumer trend to-wards the purchase of more ethically tradedproducts and increasing pressure across mostsectors for evidence of corporate social re-sponsibility.

WIDER CONSUMER TRENDSWork by the Co-operative Bank and theNew Economics Foundation established theEthical Purchasing Index, which is designedto measure the growth in the ethical market-place. With a base of 100 in 1999, theycalculated the index at 115 in 2000, suggest-ing an increase of 15 per cent in the ethicalconsumption market between 1999 and2000. In selected sectors — those wherethere is an ethical alternative — ethical con-sumer purchases increased 18.2 per cent be-tween 1999 and 2000 compared with a totalmarket growth in the same sectors of only2.8 per cent, suggesting that (in those sectors)ethical purchasing is growing six times fasterthan the overall market. But, the overallethical market share in these selected sectorsis only 1.6 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent in1999. Ethical investment and banking is alsogrowing at a rate of 20 per cent per year.Doane concluded that health, environment-alism and concern for human rights are themain driving forces behind ethical consu-merism and that globalisation and concernsabout corporate power provide the back-drop.

5

Traidcraft was founded in 1979 and hasgrown into the largest ‘fair trade’ companyin the UK, joined by Oxfam and Cafe Directamong others; the range of products nowincludes food, clothing, furniture, carpetsand toys. Datamonitor reported in October2002 that the sector had grown 40 per centin the previous 12 months and opined that‘paradoxically, the Fair Trade phenomenonsurfs a wave of egocentrism. What has cata-pulted Fair Trade products into the main-stream are not the altruistic principles ofthose with whom the idea originated but themore widespread desire among consumers to

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Ethical and responsible tourism: Consumer trends in the UK

make themselves feel good’.6The aspiration

to feel good is one of the main drivers ofresponsible tourism.

CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGEKrippendorf called for ‘rebellious touristsand rebellious locals’.

7A number of UK

NGOs have campaigned on the issue oftourism in the 1990s. Tourism Concern rana long ‘our holidays, their homes’ campaigncalling for just, participatory and sustain-able tourism. Action for Southern Africa(ACTSA) ran a campaign for ‘people first’tourism which called upon British compa-nies operating to South Africa to sign up tocore labour standards, commitments to aliving wage and racial and gender equity andsourcing goods locally wherever possible.In 1995, following a survey of its volun-

teers working in developing countries whowere asked about the pressing problems con-fronting the communities with which itworked, VSO launched a campaign on ethi-cal tourism.

‘Many communities VSO works withhave felt the sharp end of tourism and aredesperate for change. Volunteers reportthat losing land, water and access to publicplaces are common complaints, and tour-ism has very clearly been associated withserious social abuses such as child sex tour-ism and the eviction of people from theirland.’

8

VSO’s WorldWise campaign focused on the‘hidden extras’ of holidays, echoing the con-cerns that holidaymakers have about thesmall print in the brochures. The campaignvideos, postcards and leaflets raised the issuesof cultural and environmental impacts deal-ing with photography, behaviour and dresscodes, and encouraged visitors to spend timeand money in the local community. TheWorldWise campaign encouraged holiday-makers to make an informed choice. Thecampaign pointed out that ‘Every travelbrochure says ‘‘meet our friendly local peo-ple, they are the warmth of our welcome’’.But will you actually meet any? Will you gobeyond just ordering a meal or a drink?’ The

WorldWise campaign aimed to show touristshow they could get more out of their holi-day. Pointing out that ‘many people travel tothe most distant locations on earth and nevereat, drink or shop outside the hotel’, thecampaign encouraged tourists to get moreout of their holiday: ‘there’s probably amarket just down the road — you can buydirect from the crafts people and see localtraditions come alive. An experience foryou. A livelihood for local people’. VSOpointed out to holidaymakers that theirchoice of holiday and the way they visitcould make a difference.

‘We found the real country beyond thebeaten tourist track. You have to makesome effort to get there and to makecontact with local people. But the wel-come we found and the kindness we wereshown, I’ll never forget.’ Alex Knight,WorldWise tourist, Pakistan.

9

VSO WorldWise advice to the tourism in-dustry can be summarised as follows.

10

— Travel agents: stock VSO’s WorldWiseleaflet, a print version of VSO’s onlineTravel Advice Centre information, in theagency. Insert the leaflet into ticket wal-lets or flight confirmation envelopes fortourists travelling to the developingworld.

— Tour operators: give customers moreinformation about the people and theplaces they will be visiting in brochures,including advice on how they can visitlocally owned facilities and resorts. De-velop a policy for the business on howthe holidays it provides could be of morebenefit to people living in the destina-tions it visits.

— Hotels: start buying more goods andservices locally and reducing imports.Start an environment management pro-gramme within the hotel.

VSO’s WorldWise campaign encouragedconsumers to demand holidays where moreof the money tourists spend benefited localcommunities. VSO sought change from theindustry. In order to engage more directlywith individual tour operators, VSO con-

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ducted a survey of the travel advice providedby 50 operators which carried tourists toKenya, Tanzania, the Gambia, India andThailand, all developing countries in whichVSO had volunteers. Companies were thengiven a star rating for the quality of theadvice on respecting local people, respectinglocal communities, interacting with the localeconomy and respecting the local envir-onment — the themes of theWorldWise campaign. VSO adopted a con-sumer rights approach, arguing that holiday-makers are entitled to ‘basic informationabout the country or people we are visiting’.

‘We want to interact with local peopleand to enjoy a new environment when wevisit a developing country, but all toooften we don’t have the guidance we needto get the most out of our holiday withoutundermining local customs and culture . . .Without the added confidence good in-formation provides many holiday makerswon’t venture beyond the confines of thehotel, depriving local markets, restaurantsand other businesses of essential income.’

11

VSO argued that for small steps there waspotentially a big return: ‘Tour operators havea lot to gain in terms of the good-will bothof their customers and people who live andwork in the resorts they use.’ Richard Bow-den Doyle, Managing Director of ThomsonHolidays, endorsed this approach ‘Our cus-tomers trust Thomson to provide them withenjoyable trouble-free holidays. We believethat providing good information and adviceis essential to keeping that confidence.’

12

VSO subsequently worked with the Asso-ciation of Independent Tour Operators(AITO), which formed an ethical tourismcommittee to respond to the issues raised bythe WorldWise campaign and the concernsof its own members about the impacts oftourism in destinations. The AITO repre-sents about 150 independently owned UKtour operators and it has formally adoptedresponsible tourism guidelines (Figure 1),which are now part of its membership cri-teria backed by a rating system and an awardscontest.

13In January 2003 it announced its

first responsible tourism awards.

In 2000 Tearfund14published ‘Don’t For-

get Your Ethics’,15

asserting that tourism isan ethical issue — that the way one travels toanother country and comes into contact withpeople raises ethical issues about workingconditions, employment and entrepreneurialopportunities; about who benefits; about theenvironmental consequences; and aboutwhether or not travelling to a particular placesupports democracy and human rights orundermines them. Most radically, Tearfundposed the question ‘Do local people wanttourists visiting them?’

16Tearfund argued

that holidays are a consumer item and that‘our choice of holiday, just like any otherconsumer choice, affects other people’. Theprinciples of responsible consumption ap-plied to tea and coffee can be applied totourism.

17

Tearfund pressed operators to move be-yond the environmental agenda and to ad-dress the social and economic agenda. Theysuggested that operators could ensure goodworking conditions, fair prices and that agreater share of tourism revenues go to localcommunities. Tourists, they argued, coulduse local services and stay in ‘locally runguest houses, treating all those we meetwith respect, learning about and honouringlocal customs and looking after the en-vironment’.

18Tearfund published a ten-point

list of things which tour operators could doto make a difference (Figure 2).

CONSUMER ATTITUDES TOWARDS

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM IN THE UKIn November 1999 Tearfund commissioneda survey of consumer attitudes towards ethi-cal issues in tourism amongst a nationally andregionally representative sample of adults(15+).

19Twenty-seven per cent of the re-

spondents had never been on an overseasholiday; they were excluded from the datapresented in the report. Twelve per centreported that they regularly buy fairly tradedgoods or use an ethical bank or investmentfund, and 8 per cent that they are membersof an environmental, development or humanrights group.

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As might be expected cost, weather andthe quality of facilities were judged by re-spondents to be of most importance whenchoosing a holiday (Table 1

20), but the qual-

ity of local social, economic and politicalinformation (42 per cent), opportunities tointeract with local people (37 per cent) andenvironmental impact (32 per cent) were alljudged more important than the ethical pol-icy commitments of the company (27 percent). But all of these concerns wereregarded by this representative sample oftravellers as more important than whether ornot they had travelled with the company

before (26 per cent). This last point was notlost on many operators.Tearfund argued that ‘Taken with the fact

that there is little loyalty shown by tourists totour operators, this shows that a companycould gain a competitive advantage byadopting ethical policies.’

21Sixty-three per

cent of respondents reported that theywanted information about at least one ethicalissue, and nearly half wanted informationabout local customs and appropriate dressand behaviour for tourists (Table 2

22). Re-

spondents were permitted to tick as many oras few items as they liked.

Figure 1AITO responsible tourism policy

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Goodwin and Francis

Figure 2 Tearfund advice to tour operators

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Respondents identified ‘tour operators in-cluding tour guides’ (54 per cent) and travelagents (52 per cent) as primarily responsiblefor providing them with this information.

23

Tearfund asked some specific questionsabout the willingness of travellers — packageand independent travellers alike — to paymore money for holidays which had theethical characteristics they aspired to. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents said that theywould be willing to pay more for their holi-day if money went to guarantee good wagesand working conditions for workers in thedestination, to preserve the environment and

reverse some negative environmental effectsor directly to a local charity. This means that41 per cent would not be prepared to paymore for any of these reasons (Table 3).Respondents could tick as many items asthey wished.Only 45 per cent of respondents were

prepared to admit that they were not willingto pay more for the guarantees in Table 3;43 per cent were prepared to pay at least 2per cent more (Table 4).These figures are clearly aspirational —

they record the views of respondents abouthow they would like to behave, and do not

Table 1: For the last overseas holiday that you booked (whether via a tourcompany or independently), how important were the following criteria in

determining your choice?

Importance rating %

High Mid Low None

Affordable cost 82 12 3 3Good weather 78 14 5 3Guaranteed a good hotel with facilities 71 15 8 4Good information is available on the social, economic

and political situation of the country and local areato be visited

42 30 23 3

There is a significant opportunity for interaction withthe local people

37 37 23 3

Trip has been specifically designed to cause as littledamage as possible to the environment

32 34 27 5

Company has ethical policies 27 34 30 7Used the company before 26 30 38 5

Table 2: If you were on an overseas holiday, what type of information wouldyou want to have concerning your holiday?

Information %

Local customs and appropriate dress and behaviour for tourists 46Ways for tourists to support the local economy and meet the local people 26Political background to the country and specific region 26Local religious beliefs 23Sheet with ten tips for ethically responsible travellers 20How to protect the local environment and reduce waste while overseas 18The wages and working conditions of local people working in tourism 16None of these 37

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necessarily accurately forecast how consu-mers will actually behave when bookingholidays. But, consumers provided withcomparable holidays at similar prices whereone operator meets the ethical agenda tosome degree and the other does not canreasonably be expected to exercise their pre-ference for a holiday that meets their ethicalconsumption aspirations.Tearfund asked the same question in 1999

and 2001,24and over the two years the per-

centage aspiring to be willing to pay morefor an ethical holiday increased by 7 per centfrom 45 per cent to 52 per cent.By the end of 2001 52 per cent said that

they would be more likely to book a holidaywith a company with an ethical commitment(Table 5). This aspiration is one that compa-nies are increasingly responding to.The Association of British Travel Agents

(ABTA) has surveyed package holidaymakersconsistently for many years, and in Septem-ber 2000 and September 2002 it includedsome questions, which addressed the ethicaland responsible agenda.

25As part of their

regular annual survey ABTA asked a series ofquestions about tourism and the environ-

ment. The results provide firm evidence thatenvironmental issues are important to manypackage holidaymakers when they choose orrecommend particular destinations. Morethan half the respondents said that the issueof food or water shortages for local residentsmattered a great deal to them in choosing orrecommending destinations, and there wasan increase of 8 per cent in those saying thatit mattered a great deal to them between2000 and 2002. The number saying that airpollution and the aesthetics of hotels mat-

Table 3: Which of the following activities would you be willing to pay moremoney for if they were guaranteed as part of your holiday?

Item %

Money goes towards preservation of the local environment and reversal of some of thenegative environmental effects associated with tourism

35

Workers in the destination are guaranteed good wages and working conditions 29Money goes to support a local charity 21None of these 41

Table 4: How much more money would package holidaymakers be prepared to

pay?

% cost increase %

2 Which would be £10 on a holiday of £500 225 Which would be £25 on a holiday of £500 21

10 Which would be £50 on a holiday of £500 1020 Which would be £100 on a holiday of £500 1Nothing 45

Table 5: Would you be more likely to

book a holiday with a company if theyhad a written code to guarantee good

working conditions, protect theenvironment and support local

charities in the tourist destinations?

1999%

2001%

Yes 45 52Would make no difference 42 33Don’t know 13 15

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tered a great deal to them also increased by 5per cent and 7 per cent respectively. Con-cern about crime also increased (Table 6).ABTA also asked about the importance of

a range of factors in determining the respon-dent’s choice of holiday company. In Sep-tember 2000, 78 per cent of package holidayrespondents said that the provision of socialand environmental information in tour op-erators’ brochures is important; and 70 percent said that the reputation of the holidaycompany on environmental issues is eithervery or fairly important in affecting their

choice of holiday company. In the repeatsurvey in 2002 both figures had fallen slightlyby 3 and 5 per cent respectively (Table 7).This may reflect either a slight reduction inthe level of importance attached to the issuesor recognition that the industry has madesome progress in this area, or of courseboth.In 2000, 52 per cent of respondents said

that they were interested in finding out moreabout local social and environmental issuesin the resort before booking a holiday, in2002 this had increased by 7 per cent to 59

Table 7: Importance of range of factors in choice of holiday company

2000 % 2002 %

Veryimportant

Fairlyimportant Combined

Veryimportant


Quality of accommodation inthe hotel/apartment

73 24 97 74 23 97

Reputation of the holidaycompany to resolve yourproblems overseas

71 23 94 74 21 95

Quality of the reps in resort 45 36 81 44 35 79Provision of social and

environmental informationin tour operator’s brochures

33 45 78 35 40 75

Reputation of the holidaycompany on environmentalissues

29 41 70 27 38 65

Table 6: To what extent would each of the following factors influence your

choice about going to or recommending a particular destination?

2000 % 2002 %

A great deal A fair amount A great deal A fair amount

Dirty beach 83 14 82 12Polluted sea 83 14 81 14Crime 74 21 80 14Local illness 62 28 65 25Food or water shortages for local residents 51 34 59 32Too much noise 48 31 50 33Air pollution 45 39 50 33Litter in public places 43 45 43 43Hotels and other buildings out of

character with the local environment24 40 31 40

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Goodwin and Francis

per cent. Asked in September 2000 theaspirational question ‘How important is it toyou that your holiday should . . .’, 71 percent of the sample said that it was either veryimportant (27 per cent) or fairly important(44 per cent) to them that their holidaybenefited the people of the destination theyare travelling to through creating jobs andbusiness opportunities; 85 per cent said thatit was important to them that their holidaydid not damage the environment; and 77 percent said that they wanted their holiday toinclude visits to experience local culture andfoods. By September 2002 greater impor-tance was being attached to all three aspira-tions, up by 5 per cent, 2 per cent and 4 percent respectively (Table 8).Through MORI, ABTA then asked in

2000 whether the respondents would beprepared to pay more money for varioussocial and environmental elements to beguaranteed as part of the package holiday.Fifty-three per cent said that they were pre-pared to pay more for their package holidayin order that workers in the destinationcould be guaranteed good wages and work-ing conditions, and 45 per cent were pre-pared to pay more to assist in preserving thelocal environment and reversing some nega-tive environmental effects of tourism. In2002 the same questions elicited more sup-port and the aspiration to see local sourcing

increased by 5 per cent; but the aspirationthat workers in the destinations should beguaranteed good wages and working condi-tions declined by 4 points (Table 9).ABTA then went on to ask how much

extra package holiday travellers would bewilling to pay for the guarantees each re-spondent had identified. Accepting that thesestatements are aspirational and that there is asignificant difference between what is said inresponse to a survey question and a decisionto book a particular holiday at a particularprice, there is a clear trend. While 94 percent of respondents aspire to be willing topay 1 per cent more in both 2000 and 2002,the proportion aspiring to pay 5 per centmore increased by 12 per cent and thosewilling to pay 10 per cent more by 6 percent (Table 10).

ATTITUDES TO RESPONSIBLE

TOURISM AMONG UK TOUR

OPERATORSIn 2001 Tearfund published ‘Tourism Put-ting Ethics into Practice’.

26This report re-

views practice in the UK industry andreports on benefits to local communities,charitable giving by companies in the desti-nations, the development of local partner-

Table 8: How important is it to you that your holiday should have thesefeatures?

2000 2002

Veryimportant


Veryimportant


Holiday should benefit thepeople of the destination (forexample, through jobs andbusiness opportunities)

27 44 71 30 46 76

Holiday should not damagethe environment

40 45 85 45 42 87

Holiday should include visits toexperience local culture andfoods

36 41 77 42 39 81

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ships and the responsible tourism policies ofcompanies.UK tour operators are beginning to re-

spond to these campaigns and to changingconsumer attitudes, although only about 30per cent of Tearfund’s good practice reviewrespondents said that their clients were ask-ing more about some of the social, environ-mental and economic issues in tourism.Tearfund conducted research into the re-sponsible tourism policies of UK tour opera-tors late in 2000.27 They surveyed 65 UKtour operators looking for examples of goodpractice, and their sample was skewed to-wards those companies thought most likelyto be adopting responsible practices.In Tearfund’s survey the medium-sized

companies (carrying between 5,000 and100,000 holidaymakers per year) estimatedthat about 35 per cent of the costs of theirtrips remained in the local economy (exclud-ing the cost of the flight). The smaller, more

specialist operators estimated the equivalentfigure at 70 per cent, while the larger massoperators were not able to estimate.Tearfund identified 46 tour-operating

companies (71 per cent of its survey) whichgave money to charities: 33 gave moneydirectly to charities in the destination, halfgave money to UK charities working over-seas and six operators (mainly the larger ones)gave money to charities working in the UK.Thirty-two of the operators Tearfund sur-veyed looking for good practice said thatthey had a responsible tourism policy, andover half of the remainder were planning todevelop a policy (Figure 3).Those companies which had adopted re-

sponsible tourism policies said that they hadadopted them because the principles wereintegral to the company (the majority of thecompanies with policies were independentand owner-managed) or to educate theirtravellers. Less than one-third of companies

Table 9: Declared willingness to pay more money to guarantee environmentaland socio-economic benefits

2000%

2002%

Workers in the destination are guaranteed good wages and working conditions 53 49Money goes towards preservation of the local environment and reversing some

negative environmental effects of tourism45 47

Hotels serve food produced locally 31 36Money goes to support a local charity 21 22None/don’t know 19 20

Table 10: How much extra would you be willing to pay for the guarantees youchose in the previous question?

% cost increase2000%

2000cumulative%

2002%

2002cumulative%

1 (which would be £5 on a holiday of £500) 18 94 13 942 (which would be £10 on a holiday of £500) 31 77 23 815 (which would be £25 on a holiday of £500) 33 46 39 5810 (which would be £50 on a holiday of £500) 12 13 18 19More than that 1 1 1 1Nothing/less than that/don’t know 6 6

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Goodwin and Francis

said that they produced a responsible tourismpolicy as part of the process of differentiatingthemselves from mainstream tourism, andnone overtly said that it was for commercialadvantage.

IMPLICATIONSAs Weeden has argued, ethical tourism ‘canallow companies to compete on more thanjust price’.28 Krippendorf, too, argued that ina competitive market sales often dependentupon a unique selling proposition (USP),and a responsible tourism commitment is an‘added value’ which may secure additionalbookings.

29Where there is little to choose

between competing holidays and trips, theresponsible tourism aspects of a particular tripmay provide competitive advantage.Research by Francis

30into attitudes to-

wards responsible tourism among a range oflarge, medium and small operators con-cluded that while destination, price, servicesand departure date remain, in the view oftour operators, the tourist’s key decision-making criteria, those operators practisingresponsible tourism stated that given broadparity on these criteria, their responsibletourism practices make the difference ‘nearlyevery time’. All were endeavouring to createpoints of difference, USPs between theirproducts and those of their competitors, and

acknowledged that this was a key compo-nent in their product differentiation.Weeden argues that existing research in

psychological studies highlights the problemof discrepancy between the conscience ofthe consumer and their actual purchasingbehaviour.

31This is not unique to tourism.

Consumers purchase holidays for a range ofreasons and these coalesce at the moment ofdecision. Consumer choice is constrained byprice and availability, and the responsibleelements of a tourism product are only a partof the motivation to purchase, but for anincreasing number of operators a significantpart.Rebellious consumers will expect the sup-

pliers they purchase from to provide pro-ducts, which are economically, socially andenvironmentally responsible. But they willnot be prepared to pay any price for respon-sible ethically traded products. They will paya greater or lesser premium according towhat they can afford and the priority whichthey accord to the ethical dimension for theirpurchasing as against more traditional criter-ia. The smaller the premium for a moreresponsible product, the more likely consu-mers are to purchase it.Noel Josephides, managing director of

Sunvil Holidays, argued in the Travel TradeGazette that British tourists have ‘absolutelyno interest in supporting a host country’seconomy, respecting local customs or acting

0 5 10 15 20 25

Number of tour operators

Integral to the principles of the company

To educate tourists

Reaction against mainstream tourism

To show suppliers strength of policies

To publicise responsible tourism activities/marketing purposes

Pressure from NGOs/tourists

Remind staff of company principles and values

Why did you produce your policy?

Figure 3 Tearfund data on why operators chose to develop responsible tourism policies

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responsibly while on holiday’.32

But, he re-ported in the same article that 8 per cent ofSunvil clients said that Sunvil’s environmentalinitiative encouraged them to book with thecompany. In the highly competitive UKtourism market few operators can ignore thepreferences and ethics of 8 per cent of theirclients. It is also true that they cannot pay anyprice to satisfy their clients, as operators can-not be sustainable without making profits.There is a trade-off between economics andaspirations for operators as well as tourists.Where the responsible tourism elements

make for a superior product it will attractconsumers predisposed to purchase. The re-sponsible tourism product has one particularadvantage over many other ethical products— the consumer will often experience thedifference. A cup of fairly traded coffee ortea will not taste significantly different fromother teas and coffees — it can taste as goodbut not better. Responsible tourism holidayswhich bring particularly high-quality en-gagement with local communities and theirenvironments can provide a superior pro-duct, the life-enhancing experience which agrowing sector of the market craves.

33

REFERENCES

(1) King, J. (2002) ‘Destination marketing or-ganisations — Connecting the experiencerather than promoting the place’, Journal ofVacation Marketing, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 105–108.

(2) Krippendorf, J. (1987) ‘The Holiday Ma-kers’, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

(3) Ibid, p. 105.(4) King, ref. 1 above.(5) Doane, D. (2001) ‘Taking Flight: The rapid

growth of ethical consumerism’, The Ethi-cal Purchasing Index 2001, New Econom-ics Foundation, London.

(6) Datamonitor, 18th October, 2002,www.datamonitor.com.

(7) Krippendorf, ref. 2 above, p. 107.(8) Voluntary Service Overseas (1998) ‘Travel-

ling to a Fairer World’, Voluntary ServiceOverseas, London.

(9) Voluntary Service Overseas (1997) ‘EveryHoliday Has Hidden Extras Below the Sur-face’, Voluntary Service Overseas, London.

(10) VSO, ref. 8 above.(11) Voluntary Service Overseas (1999) ‘Travel-

ling in the Dark’, Voluntary Service Over-seas, London.

(12) Ibid.(13) www.aito.co.uk/v2home/responsibletour-

ism.html.(14) An evangelical Christian relief and develop-

ment agency working through local part-ners to bring help and hope to communitiesin need around the world.

(15) Tearfund (2000) ‘A Tearfund Guide toTourism: Don’t Forget Your Ethics’, Tear-fund, London.

(16) Ibid, p. 14.(17) Ibid, p. 3.(18) Ibid, p. 15.(19) Ipsos-RSL undertook the research of a na-

tionally and regionally representative sampleof 2,032 adults (weighted to 2,043) aged15+. Interviews were conducted in theperiod 26th–30th November, 1999; datasetaccurate to +/- 3 per cent at 95 per centconfidence level.

(20) Tearfund (2000) ‘Tourism an Ethical Issue,Market Research Report’, Tearfund, Lon-don.

(21) Ibid. — 42 per cent said that it would makeno difference; 13 per cent said no.

(22) Ibid.(23) Respondents could nominate more than

one answer.(24) Tearfund (2002) ‘Worlds Apart’, Tearfund,

London. Ipsos-RSL asked a nationally andregionally representative sample of 927adults in their own homes in the period30th November–10th December, 2001.

(25) A sample of 963 respondents surveyed faceto face by MORI in the street in the period2nd–24th September, 2000, in 107 consti-tuency-based sampling points; dataweighted to reflect the profile of Britishholidaymakers. In 2002 the same method-ology was used with 713 respondents; thefieldwork dates were 10th–25th September,2002.

(26) Tearfund (2001) ‘Tourism Putting Ethicsinto Practice’, Tearfund, London.

(27) Ibid.(28) Weeden, C. (2002) ‘Ethical tourism: An

opportunity for competitive advantage’,Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 8, No. 2,pp. 141–153.

(29) Krippendorf, ref. 2 above.(30) Francis, J. (2000) ‘Can the internet be used

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to expedite the growth of more responsibleforms of tourism by creating an onlinemarketplace of pre-screened and monitoredproducts/services’, unpublished MSc disser-tation, University of Greenwich.

(31) Weeden, ref. 28 above.(32) Josephides, N. (2001) ‘Ethic’s don’t in-

terest client’, Travel Trade Gazette, 4thFebruary.

(33) For examples of responsible tourism tripssee www.responsibletravel.com, and for ex-amples of responsible tourism policies indestinations see www.responsibletourism-partnership.org.

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