Their report also noted on the basis of their survey that holidaymakers would prefer a TO with an environmental policy and promoted responsible tourism guidelines, a finding that suggests a change in attitude to that of 2 years earlier when, as noted by Welford et al. (1999, p. 175), there was ‘no great demand from the tourists themselves for the greening of the supply function.’ Further to these initiatives, comprehensive and well-illustrated guidelines to aid TOs engage with and develop SSCM were introduced in 2004 (TOI and CELB, 2004). Here our primary concern is SSCM, which involves most aspects of the business and, as shown in Table 3.2, many aspects of a supplier’s business practices and related areas such as destination development and the involvement of local communities.
It is no coincidence that the attention of the TOI to SSCM closely follows the establishment, with the support of the UNEP, of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in 2002 as an independent non-profit organization. Their guidelines, first developed in 1999,
set out the principles and indicators that organizations can use to measure and report (including structure and contents thereof) their economic, environmental and social performance (Visser, 2009, p. 172).
In effect, these reports are recognized as CSR/sustainability reports. Amongst the sector-specific supplements are guidelines for TOs, including performance indicators, which were established in partnership with the TOI, UNEP and the World Tourism Organization (WTO); reputedly based on the life cycle of the holiday product. Early leaders to adopt these guidelines and who have been formally reporting on their sustainability practices since 2003 are TUI, which includes First Choice Holidays, and Kuoni Travel. These guidelines are certainly extensive as shown in Table 3.1, which draws attention to many of the elements involved in an EMS (see Chapter 5), and quite detailed as the sub-section detail on ‘Internal Operations Management’ in the main category Internal Management further illustrates. Further detail on SSCM is subsequently presented in Table 3.2.
The IH&RA also contributed to the development of these guidelines and whilst supporting they noted that it ‘maintains the importance of establishing limits to which hospitality operators can be asked to report to tour operators.’ (Anon., 2003, p. 48). It is not just ‘how much to report’ but also, as Charlton and Howell (1992) identified, there is the problem of establishing the boundary lines along the supply chain. If, for example, a coach tour is supplied, what is the starting point? Is this where the customer joins the coach or should it include the selection of the coach vehicle itself? If it is a package tour sold by a travel agent, does the supply chain include the possibility of the customer being transferred from home to the airport? Does it also mean that the contractor also considered the environmental credentials of any organization acting as a sub-agent within any element of their supply chain? To a degree this appears to be the case in that TOs are being encouraged, for example, by the WTO and ETOA, to adopt an EMS and also to encourage their suppliers to adopt such practices. Equally, the opposite is also true in that companies seeking to negotiate rates for their business and, to a lesser extent, individual customers may start asking about an enterprise’s environmental policy.
As with most business systems there is not only a need for effective liaison with staff and suppliers but also the community who should be part and parcel of the procurement process; a key point to achieving success in SSCM as noted by the British Airport Authority (BAA), a relatively early leader in this field. BAA ‘see SSCM as very much part of their aim to reduce the consumption and emissions which result from our business practices’ (Howell, 2000, p. 10). They see it very much as a continuous process that includes a major element of trust and integrity on the part of suppliers and, as such, there are advantages to working with fewer rather than more suppliers.
Further recognition that SSCM is applicable to all tourism enterprises are the guidelines produced specifically for hotels that to varying degrees are applicable to all tourism and hospitality enterprise. These guidelines include the following advice and benefits:
Advice:
• ‘sourcing more products and services locally to encourage local business, provide “authenticity” and cut down on transport costs;
• sourcing products with less environmental impact in their manufacture, use and disposal;
• buying products in bulk and reusing packaging;
• importing only “fair trade” products; and
• ensuring that suppliers adhere to safe and ethical working practices.’ (Anon., 2006, p. 1).
This advice certainly appears appropriate on first consideration and all the more so for national and international hotel companies who will have procurement policies and quite probably departments with a specific remit for sourcing supplies. But this does include potential contradictions that become all the more apparent when considered in terms of application to small and micro tourism enterprises; for example between sourcing locally