Sustainable supply chain management in tourism: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry was seen as one of the main beneficiaries of globalisation prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, while tourism is a major driver of economic growth and social well-being, a transformation of the industry towards more sustainable practices along the tourism supply chain (TSC) is needed to ensure that sustainable development goals can be reached. As sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices are critical for this transformation, the present study maps previous research on SSCM in tourism within a systematic literature review. Based on an analysis of 44 peer-reviewed journal papers, we found a strong emphasis on tour operators, hotels, and transport providers being concerned with practicing SSCM while actors managing the destination (e.g., Destination Management Organizations) have rarely been studied. Sustainability practices in TSCs can be enhanced by linking traditional and non-traditional actors on the multiple tiers and levels of a tourist destination. We accordingly propose potential research avenues to stimulate future research activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable supply chain management
• tourism industry
• systematic literature review

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers and editors for their valuable and constructive comments, which have led to a significant improvement of the manuscript. We further would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Bernd Eisenstein from Westcoast University of Applied Sciences in Heide, Germany, for his comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding to report.

Notes on contributors

Tim Gruchmann

Tim Gruchmann is a professor for logistics and supply chain management at Westcoast University of Applied Sciences and member of the German Institute for Tourism Research. His research interests lie within employee and customer-centered logistics and sustainable supply chain management. His research contributions have been published in international, peer-reviewed journals such as International Journal of Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Journal of Business Economics, International Journal of Production Economics, and Journal of Industrial Ecology.