Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the macromarketing perspective, the behaviour of tourists as responsible consumers, and
marketing theory and practice for responsible tourism.
Two revered commentators outside of tourism marketing provide memorable and thought-
provoking insights to form part of the bigger picture on which this chapter relies. Their
contribution is brought to the fore in a tourism and hospitality context by Hawkins and
Bohdanowicz (2012) to draw attention to the immensity of the global challenge within which
tourism plays its part. The fi rst commentator, Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman (2008),
drew three parallels between the current economic crisis and the impending environmental
crisis. Friedman highlighted the common characteristics of a huge increase in debt (in the case
of the environmental crisis, the drawdown of natural capital), an over-confi dence in the ability
of markets and regulatory systems to both identify and to alleviate risks, and the dominance of
incentives driving individuals and organizations to pursue short-term benefi ts irrespective of the
long term implications. The second commentator, scientist James Lovelock (2010) and originator
of the Gaia theory in the 1960s, highlighted the importance of complexity in the environmental
crisis and the role of 'good' sceptics in holding scientifi c research to account. Lovelock emphasized
his belief that human society and humanity itself had not yet 'evolved' to a level clever enough
to successfully manage a situation so complex as climate change. Such contributions from
Friedman and Lovelock bring to life for the reader the limitations of too parochial a view of
sustainability, marketing and responsible tourism.
There has been a proliferation of terminology for both tourism and marketing in the context
of sustainability. There is variety in nuance, in accepted usage, and in the time period during which
these terms were favoured and subsequently critiqued. Even implicit ownership of the terms varied.
For example, the rise of alternative tourism, green tourism and ecotourism were associated with
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and predominantly positioned in opposition to mass
tourism (Clarke 1997), a now largely historic view as sustainability is generally agreed to be the
aspirational goal for all forms of tourism. Thus the lexicon includes alternative tourism, community-
based tourism, ecotourism, fair trade tourism, green tourism, pro-poor tourism, responsible tourism,
sustainable tourism and more recently (Hall 2011) de-growth tourism, slow tourism and steady-
state tourism. Marketing too has generated terminology from ecological marketing in the early
1970s (see Van Dam and Apeldorm 1996) and then in very approximate succession and amongst
others to green marketing (e.g. Charter 1992; Peattie 1992), environmental marketing (e.g.
Coddington 1993), societal marketing, sustainable marketing (e.g. Fuller 1999; Van Dam and
Apeldorm 1996), responsible marketing (e.g. Hudson and Miller 2005), quality of life marketing,
social marketing as applied to sustainability (Peattie and Peattie 2009), welfare marketing (Varey
2010) and the emergence of the transformative consumer research (TCR) movement.
The position taken in this chapter inclines towards the language of responsibility; responsible
business, responsible tourism and responsible marketing, without jettisoning the language of
sustainability which provides its context. The term 'sustainability' has been critiqued for poor
translation in the marketplace as being too overwhelming for individuals to act on, inducing
numbness and inactivity and a sense of inevitability. Conversely, it is argued that the term
'responsibility' implies a sense of ownership of sustainability that stimulates ability, motivation
and action towards better lifestyle choices. It is currently a term under the favoured spotlight
although, like its forerunners, there is no blueprint for its success.
Synopsis of issues and conceptualization
The issues encompassed by sustainability are remorseless in number and interlocking, and as
presented here, illustrative rather than comprehensive. Included are poverty, inequality (both
