(Re)locating the Decision Makers in Ecotourism: Emphasizing “Place” and “Grace” in a Global Industry’s DEI Efforts

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role that reformed hiring practices and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the global industry of ecotourism may (or may not) play in bringing multiply marginalized or underrepresented (MMU) voices to the forefront of environmental risk communication and sustainability efforts worldwide. Ultimately, the article argues that ecotourism companies should promote grace-based hiring practices to include marginalized knowledges of threatened ecosystems (places) in a company’s decisions regarding sustainability.

KEYWORDS:

• Diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI)
• ecotourism
• environmental justice
• localization
• risk communication
• human resource management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This term is what I use for company decision makers due to their proximity to senior leadership and their ability to effect change.

2. For example, how to mitigate carbon emission; how the company interacts with local wildlife, natural resources, and ecosystems; or how the company handles the waste and consumption that ultimately burdens local landfills.

3. Example of edited participant excerpts:

Original:

• •Participant 1: 25% of our guides come from that email inbox, maybe? A lot more come from guides that know guides.

• •Participant 4: I’ve had a couple referrals you know that have we’ve hired, you know. People that work in Ops. We hired one, and then she told her friend who she used to work with at another company, who’d also got laid off from it, and she ended up being a good fit, too.

Edited:

• •Participant 1: Maybe twenty-five percent of our guides come from general inquiry emails. A lot more come from guides that know guides.

• •Participant 4: I’ve hired a couple of referrals to work in field operations…We hired one person, and then she told me of a friend who used to work with at another company. She ended up being a good fit too.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wesley Mathis

Wesley Mathis is a graduate student of technical communication and rhetoric at Utah State University. His research interests include the rhetoric of crisis communication, knowledge legitimization, and ethics, especially as they pertain to environmental policy and scientific ethos.