Ethics in Tourism
Usually, when I start to talk about the topic of ethical behaviour in tourism, the first reaction I get ranges from astonishment to scepticism and even to rejection. But when the conversation enters further into the concept of ethical business guidelines in tourism and related industries, the relevance in the light of the caused impacts emerges rather quickly.
As is the case with every economic sector, tourism activities follow the requirements of a moral legitimacy in the daily work place towards one’s own self, the colleagues, the customers and the clients. Business and leisure travel causes a wide range of desirable and less desirable impacts, namely on environmental, socio-cultural and economic level.
While these effects are attempted to be mitigated under the umbrella of a sustainable tourism development, the industry leaders and the employees often wonder by which means they can positively shape their surrounding. By whichguidelines can and should they act in order to behave in a responsible and ethically legitimate way?
The World Tourism Organisation UNWTO as the industry leader provides an answer to that. Conscious of tourism’s special responsibility as a driver of global interchange and expansion, it has drawn up the “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism”. Published already in 1999, the Code has yet to reach a broad recognition as a baseline requirement for every actor in the industry.
In an effort to promote the highly relevant principles of ethical behaviour in the sector, the following provides a summary of the key understandings of what tourism should be and strive to stand for:
- Mutual understanding and respect between peoples and societies
- Individual and collective fulfillment
- Factor of sustainable development
- Catalyser for the cultural heritage of mankind
- Beneficial activity for host countries and communities
- Obligations of stakeholders in tourism development
- Right to tourism
- Liberty of tourism movements
- Rights of workers and entrepreneurs in the industry
- Implementation of the Code‘s principles
The full Code can be viewed and downloaded here:
In my opinion, every participant in the industry, especially the promoters and developers of tourism activities, should be well aware of the implications that their actions will irrevocably cause.
The Code helps by giving a general guidance in difficult issues – and this clearly makes it one of the baseline documents to follow in daily (work) life.
Andreas Hauser
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