Linking Culture and the Environment

208 Tourism and Poverty Alleviation
all tour operators claimed to have a positive impact on local communities –
such as employment, using local service providers and purchasing local
products (Spenceley, 2007, p. 3). However, several tour operators pointed out
that they faced numerous barriers in bringing benefits to local people. These
included concerns about safety and crime, access and problems relating to
capacity – such as skills, language and inconsistent quality. The majority of
tour operators indicated that partnerships and relationships with suppliers
were very important to them; however, only half of respondents claimed to
have responsible tourism policies in place (Spenceley, 2007, p. 8). Spenceley
(2007) also found the barriers of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to
include safety and security issues, lack of quality and quantity compliance
by smaller suppliers and limited understanding and experience of implementing
responsible tourism management (RTM) practices. A majority of the
sampled tour operators, however, indicated that they were engaging in positive
interventions in local communities. These benefits ranged from economic
upliftment through employment opportunities, to improved local infrastructure
and support for education, and health and conservation initiatives
(Spenceley, 2007). In a subsequent, and more extensive study to investigate
why the tourism industry in the Greater Cape Town region was not adopting
RTM, Frey (2007) developed a model to test what factors are disrupting the
relationship between managers’ attitudes and perceptions towards RTM and
CSR and actual RTM behaviour. Frey sent a questionnaire by e-mail to 1700
tourism businesses in the Greater Cape Town region, and achieved a response
rate of 14% (244 returns). Frey (2007) found that a high proportion of the
businesses considered an ethical and responsible approach to business as
very important (see Table 12.4).
Table 12.4. Relative importance of responsible tourism to tourism enterprises in
Cape Town, South Africa. (Adapted from Frey and George, 2008)
Scale item
Percentage of
strongly
agree and agree
Being ethical and responsible is the most important
94
thing a business can do
Responsible management is essential to long-term
94
profitability
Business planning and goal setting should include
92
discussions of responsible management
We think responsible tourism management is a useful
81
marketing tool
Our employees are proud to work for a socially
73
responsible business
We think responsible tourism management improves
67
our staff performance
Business has a social responsibility beyond making a profit 62