This chapter proposes an analysis of the relationship between HRM and the sustainable development of organizations in the coastal and maritime tourism sector. Tourism has contributed to both GDP and employment increases, mainly in countries with coastal areas. Tourism growth in coastal and maritime areas negatively impacts the landscape and environment in the various coastal regions, raising pressures to go green. Two factors that have delayed the existence of comprehensive studies in this sector is the enormous diversity of activity areas covered and the pluridimensionality of this theme. The goal of green human resource management is to promote the performance of organizational environment through greater involvement and employee's commitment to the environment. This chapter develops and deepens the analysis of the relationship between green human resource management and the sustainable development of organizations in coastal and maritime tourism and environmental sustainability.
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This paper aims to analyze, through a holistic approach, the importance of green human resource management in the sustainable development of coastal and maritime tourism organizations and its impact on sustainable development.
In 2017 the number of international tourists reached around 1323 million, which represents a new record - 84 million more than in 2016. Europe and Africa are the geographical areas with the highest tourist flow, with increases of 8% and 9% respectively (OMT 2019). According to UNWTO forecasts, by 2030 the number of international tourists will reach 1,800 million (World Tourism Organization, 2018). Tourism is pointed out as an area that is contributing to increased employment (313 million worldwide jobs) and global gross domestic product (10.4%), consequently to better living conditions. The industry has shown commitment to achieving the objectives of sustainable development (World Tourism Organization, 2018), although, according to UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, there are also several risks arising from the pressure caused by high tourist flows in certain areas of the globe. Determinants to minimize the negative impacts of tourism are people - policymakers, managers of organizations, employees and clients. Although technology can replace many jobs, the specificity of work in this sector does not allow it to easily replace tourism employees. As Frey and Osborne claim” tasks related to social intelligence, such as understanding people's reactions in social contexts or assisting and caring for others”, can hardly be automated. (Frey & Osborne, 2017).
The provision of services in Tourism includes several areas of analysis, including customer satisfaction and visitor experience in various geographical locations and in several activity sectors.
One of the factors that have hampered the existence of comprehensive studies in this sector is the enormous diversity of the areas of activity covered and the multidimensionality of the theme (Baum, Kralj, Robinson, & Solnet, 2016). There are several studies on human resources in tourism, of which we find a systematization in (Baum, et al., 2016), focusing on employees or on human resources management, on seasonal work, on strategic management of human resources, on planning or on hospitality, but tourism is not restricted to just these areas. In addition, all studies appear to be very isolated without an analysis of the interactions the surrounding environment has in the activity, without knowing the impact that this has on both internal customers (employees), external customers, their visitor experience and the environment. Recently there has been a growing concern, from an increasing number of people worldwide, with environmental sustainability.
The concept of tourism should be as comprehensive as possible - all services are directly linked, influenced by or influencing the sector and should be included in tourism studies. Therefore, the tourism concept of the WTO itself should be analyzed since it does not include the effects of the surrounding environment in tourism and vice-versa:
Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes.”(World Tourism Organization, 2018) UNWTO, the United Nations agency in charge of promoting responsible, sustainable and universally accessible Tourism, defines Sustainable Tourism as: “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities (UNWTO, 2005).
This chapter intends to analyze the relationship between green HRM and the maritime and coastal segment of the tourism industry and the impact of this relationship in the surrounding environment and vice versa.
In order to clarify the concept of maritime and coastal tourism, we can define it as tourism in which the consumer travels outside his/her area of residence to enjoy services related to the sea. Maritime tourism involves several activities, namely cruises and sailing. Coastal tourism, beyond its relationship with maritime tourism - since it involves activities related to the sea and also with the beach - is also related to the Second Dwellings and is, in fact, one of the oldest ways of touring (Hall, 2001).