13. Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility in Ecotourism: Entrepreneurial Motivation Enacted Through Sustainability Objectives

Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) refers to organisational behaviours dedicated to the responsible use of natural resources, sensitivity to social capital or host culture and the sustainable distribution of economic wealth. These behaviours create social value and are in the interest of wider society. Organisations, including those who operate within the tourism industry, have been under longstanding social pressure to exhibit CSR behaviours. This social pressure has ultimately contributed to the emergence of sustainable tourism forms such as ecotourism. However, as this chapter recounts, there is no guarantee that the sustainability premise on which ecotourism has been founded will equate to actual responsible business behaviours. This chapter identifies that social and environmental failings observed within ecotourism may be a result of poor community consultation, ineffective ecotourism management and ‘inauthentic’ entrepreneurial motivations. It argues that should these failings be addressed, ecotourism does hold some potential to positively contribute to the tourism industries’ engagement with both sustainable and responsible behaviour. In part, this potential is dependent upon an ability to attract ‘altruistically motivated’ entrepreneurs to ecotourism business start-up, as these entrepreneurial types may represent a more reliable exponent of sustainable business behaviours. This proposition would be further supported where altruistic motivation is coupled with responsive ecotourism development, management and consultation. There is a role then for government and other tourism industry stakeholders to develop and offer support and management mechanisms for altruistically motivated ecotourism developments.