7.10.13

Differentiating Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Tourisme #RTD7 #Vector_5

This week we have been immersed in the 7th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations, held in Barcelona, ​​for the first time in Europe.


I found interesting that the debates differentiated between Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Tourism. The difference was told to be that the latter concept or model requires a focus on dialogue with stakeholders.

We have quite often written around this idea on several occasions, as it is important to understand where the focus is needed to manage CSR. The speech we did, on behalf of Vector 5 · Excellence and Sustainability, went further since we introduced the concept of Responsible Tourism Destination as a sectoral implementation of Socially Responsible Territory and, consequently, making a different approach from usual one based on sustainability management of tourist destinations.

It's a pleasure to translate to English a recent article issued five months ago explaining the practical difference between Responsibility and Sustainability:


19/05/13 Responsibility & Sustainability

The story of sustainability focuses on the environment. The organization ends up as one more agent among many others that can contribute to environment sustainability. The organization becomes peripheral, collateral, and those more committed may voluntarily assume some responsibilities.

The story responsibility focuses on the organization. It is the responsibility of the organization in front of society. The organization is the focus and stakeholders are around. Sustainability is a requirement of the society that are observing us.
 
In the sustainability model each organization is one more agent, moving by mandatory legal regulations to which some organizations add an extra commitment. But the goal is sustainability.

In the responsibility (CSR) model each organization is being challenged by society, not only on compliance but on their attitudes and beliefs. And it agrees to be questioned because the commitment to accountability implies responsivity, acceptance of having to answer the questions that stakeholders formulated legitimately. And the goal is to assure the result through internal processes, through assumption of values ​​and commitments, through management tools, dialogue with stakeholders, an understanding of the materiality.

I defend both two models. And the ethics model as well, which sometimes seems to be not attended enough. All three reinforce and need mutually.
  • CSR needs a focus where to look and a focus where to look from: sustainability and ethics.
  • Ethics needs to inspire a management model appliable in everyday business life, enabling organizations to create simultaneously economic and social value.
  • And sustainability needs a methodology to facilitate organizational implementation.
La sostenibilitat necessita una metodologia que no demani sols resultats sinó que asseguri aquests resultats a partir d'uns valors i un model de gestió, que desenvolupi models organitzacionals que sàpiguen donar resposta canviant, i que sàpiguen integrar els cinc vectors de la sostenibilitat en un model de gestió de la complexitat apte per a crear valor, no com merament una imposició de l'entorn sinó com una nova capacitat per a formular el model estratègic a partir de noves capacitats, nova generació de confiances, nous models de producció i innovació, noves propostes de valor.  

Sustainability requires a methodology not only askink for results but assuring these results ​​from values and from a management model both developping an organizational model prepared to give changing responses amb prepared to integrate the five sustainability vectors into a model of sustainability management complexity suitable to create value , not merely an imposition of the environment but as a new ability to formulate strategic model from new capabilities, new generation of trust, innovation and production of new models, new value propositions.

In an article called "The CSR is gerund" we advocated that "those who only watch companies impacts talk primarily about sustainability while those who look within the organization prefer to talk about CSR". We also did other claims like "CSR is not only an adaptation to requirements of some stakeholders and some emergent market segments. It is also a vector of Change Management within the organizational culture" or "For this reason CSR goes beyond sustainability. CSR puts eyes on management ang sustainability on outputs. CSR is managint a commitement towards a result".

Each company and each expert has the right to call the thing as he wants, whenever he stands what is reinforcing and what load is lightened... Above all, let's avoid joking with the terminology: for years everyone knows that the word "social" in CSR does not mean assistencial; social responsibility means responsibility towards society.

Other recommended articles [you can use Google translator from Catalan]: