(2002), supported by UNEP, UNESCO and WTO, is an international
group dedicated to assisting tour operators from around the world to
develop best practices for sustainable tourism. Objective 1 of their mandate
highlights the importance of best practice for attaining their goals:
1.1 Facilitating the exchange of best practices adopted to implement
the principles for sustainable tourism and the Initiative’s
Statement of Commitment.
1.2 Developing new management tools and adapting existing ones,
specific to the industry (EMS, ISO 14001, etc) for tour operators’
own operations, and for sustainable management practices in
the supply chain.
1.3 Providing a platform for dialogue with other partners.
1.4 Involving tour operators in the relevant programmes of work of
UNEP, UNESCO, WTO.
1.5 Assessing progress made on a regular basis.
1.6 Facilitating partnerships between members to address issues
with a common voice. (Tourism Operators’ Initiative, 2002)
The commitment of the Tourism Operators’ Initiative to sustainability
is emphasised in the pursuit of best practices that use natural resources
responsibly, reduce and prevent pollution and waste, conserve biodiversity,
conserve cultural heritage, involve local communities and use
local products and skills.
The main drawbacks of BP are that the organisation must be in the
programme for a prolonged period of time before being recognised with
an award, and only after receiving the award can the company begin to
act to improve performance (Font & Tribe, 2001). While it is debatable
whether these are drawbacks, depending on what perspective one maintains,
perhaps more central in terms of what is ethical or not is what is
viewed as best? Is a company that is identified as a ‘best practice’ unit
a more ethical form of enterprise than others? This is a question that we
need to consider closely. Is it like saying that laws are all ethical because
they have been passed by the legal arm of a government. Mechanisms
like best practice and certification should not only be about efficiency
and development, but also about citizenship, fairness, justice, altruism
and so on. The extent to which best practice for environmental management
or sustainability may be realised too often rests on the profit margin.
The Precautionary Principle
One of the challenges for industry is the assessment of risk relative
to: (1) the knowledge of the citizenry regarding the product; and (2) the
ethics behind selling a product that may have a deleterious impact on
the well-being of humans or other beings. At what level, therefore, is
the product acceptable? Should we adopt a zero-risk set of standards in
marketing our product? Do we establish risk on the basis of benefits or
costs to us? Is it appropriate to expose certain segments of the population
to higher levels of risk than other segments?