A phenomenon which happens when a company deceptively disseminates false information about its environmentally friendly engagement and practices, in order to promote the perception that its business and products are environmentally friendly. Evidence that an organization is greenwashing comes when it significantly spends more money or time in advertising being “green” than in concretely implementing environmentally friendly practices and projects.
Published in Chapter:
Consumer Confidence in Responsible Tourism: How Business Reporting Systems can Encourage Respectful Behaviour
Mara Manente (CISET (International Centre of Studies on the Tourist Economy) - Ca' Foscari University,, Italy), Valeria Minghetti (CISET (International Centre of Studies on the Tourist Economy) - Ca' Foscari University, Italy), Erica Mingotto (CISET (International Centre of Studies on the Tourist Economy) - Ca' Foscari University, Italy), and Francesco Casarin (Ca' Foscari University, Italy)
Copyright: © 2014
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5880-6.ch013
Abstract
The chapter focuses on reporting systems which assess responsible tourism and Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) in the tourism industry. These tools have recently received more and more attention from the international academic and professional community, given the urgent need to promote a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable development of tourism. The use of reporting systems can encourage responsible practices by tourism businesses, improving internal processes and activities along the tourism value chain, as well as enhance consumer confidence in respectful companies and in responsible tourism. Through the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the chapter develops a critical assessment of the reporting systems currently available in Europe, in order to support the diffusion of responsible policies and practices in the tourism industry and the businesses' commitment towards clients. Particular attention is paid to small and medium-size tourism enterprises, since they have more difficulties in organising their business according to social and ecological principles and to develop the conditions under which a product can be defined as “responsible”. The analysis underlines that the evaluation of these tools, in terms of their effectiveness and reliability in monitoring business responsibility, depends on the criteria taken into account for the analysis and then on the auditors' selection of appropriate variables.