Social and Environmental Responsibility among Inbound Tour Operations in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Hong Kong is famous as a destination for shopping, culinary, and entertainment seeking tourists. In response to this, the focus of academia, industry, and government was drawn away from the salient and fundamental discussions of sustainability. Central to the sustainability discussion within this region, however, is the role of tour operators as agents of change. This study is a noble attempt to investigate the critical role of tour operations in promoting social and environmental sustainability within a cosmopolitan Hong Kong. In-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with inbound tour operators in Hong Kong. The result revealed that while sustainability is important to tour operators, at least policy-wise, it is difficult to implement amidst the conundrum of challenges faced both internally and institutionally. Partnership is of utmost importance for sustainability success. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

摘要

香港是着名的购物, 烹饪和娱乐胜地。有见及此, 学术界, 工业界及政府的重点渐离了可持续發展的基本原则。然而旅游营运商在可持续發展扮演了重要的角色。这研究是一项具价值的尝试, 以研究旅游营运商在香港促进社会和环境可持续發展的独特的角色。透过对香港入境旅客的深度和半结构採访, 研究發现儘管可持续發展对旅游业很重要, 但面对内部和机构面临的难题前则难以实行。合作关係是可持续發展的成功关键。本文亦讨论了管理和研究意义。

KEYWORDS:

• Hong Kong
• environment
• social
• sustainability
• tour operators

关键词:

• 香港
• 环境社会可持续性
• 旅游营运商

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Felix Elvis Otoo

Felix Elvis Otoo is Assistant Professor in Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies (IHTS) at Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam. His research interest spans across tourism sustainability, senior tourism, volunteer tourism, and diaspora tourism development (E-mail: [email protected]).

Dagnachew Leta Senbeto

Dagnachew Leta Senbeto is Research Assistant Professor in Institute of International Business and Governance of Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration at The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. His research interests lie in the wider field of tourism and hospitality such as crisis, sustainability, tourist, and organizational behavior (E-mail: [email protected]).

Mulugeta Asteray Demssie

Mulugeta Asteray Demssie is Ph.D. Candidate in School of Hotel & Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. His research interests are in the fairness of the tourism trade, tour operation, and destination management (E-mail: [email protected]).