CRST 2019 : SI - Certification and Reporting for Sustainable Tourism

Special Issue "Certification and Reporting for Sustainable Tourism"
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability of Culture and Heritage".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2019
--------------------------------
Dear Colleagues,

Certification programs and sustainability reporting are often seen as important vehicles to promote the change towards sustainable tourism.

There is a common understanding that certification programs for sustainable tourism should distinguish between genuinely responsible hospitality and tourism business practice and greenwashing. Reporting should be accurate and meaningful. International standards and guidelines have been developed for both certification and reporting, covering not just environmental, but also social and cultural aspects of sustainability as well. However, doubts remain as to what degree these have actually been implemented. Controversial discussions regarding the impacts and usefulness of certification persist. While there are numerous types of sustainable tourism certificates, consumers know hardly anything about them, and the number of certified tourism businesses and destinations remains low.

Thus, certification is not an end in itself. It is one of a number of tools for motivating businesses to improve their environmental, social, and economic performance. Certification and reporting are mostly voluntary and may involve enormous efforts and associated costs, but also come with a number of potential benefits. These benefits may include improved image and reputation, cost efficiency, employee motivation and satisfaction as well as improved managrment structures and potential for innovation. For consumers and on a B2B level, trustworthy certificates provide orientation and guidance for product selection and supply chain management.

Most of the certifiction programs also require reporting to ensure transparency and information of all stakeholders. In the past few years, sustainability reporting has gained increasing attention in politics, business and science. In 2017 the European Comission made it obligatory for large corporations to release a sustainability report. Whilst on a global scale over 90% of the 250 largest multinational corporations publish such reports (KPMG 2015), this is not yet common practice among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, sustainability reporting remains largely voluntary. Its potential benefits and challenges are similar to the ones connected to certification.

With this special issue we aim to explore future directions in sustainability certification and reporting in hospitality and tourism. We also aim to take into consideration the changing environments (eg. digitalization, globalization,….), stakeholder interests and the need to consider the business case of sustainability reporting. This special issue will provide a forum to discuss and identify new trends and developments in sustainability certification and reporting in the tourism industry.