Can you help me discussing the arguments for/against statement?
Corporate social responsibility is essential as a philosophy to guide managers in travel industry.
I'll give you an example of where practices were changed which essentially adopted corporate social responsibility where it hadn't previously existed:
In Cusco (Peru) tour operators used to compete to offer the cheapest tours of the Inca Trail - especially in the immediate aftermath following the ban on independent trekkers doing the Trail. All tour operators had porters - whether they carried just the dining tent, cooking gear and food and did the cooking at camp, or whether they carried trekkers gear as well.
Most of these porters were employed on an ad hoc basis and came from the poor villages just before the Trail starts. They are renowned for literally running up and down the mountain passes wearing flip flops made out of used tyres. The problems came with the fact that they were employed ad hoc and the pay varied greatly. Trekkers ended up arguing with tour operators when they learnt that their porters were earning less than porters with other companies and carrying twice the recommended weights - borne out by frequent sightings of porters tumbling down mountains as the weight they were carrying toppled them.
Guidelines were eventually introduced recommending maximum weights for porters to carry and essentially a minimum wage and tour operators who did not comply with this were not licensed to continue with tours of the Inca Trail so they all pulled their finger out and started treating the porters better.
Added to this were increased regulations about things like eco-tourism - i.e. taking waste away, and digging toilets to recommended depths.
This is a practical example of how corporate social responsibility in a developing country at its largest tourist centre improved not only the experience of the Inca Trail, but the conditions for those porters employed to work the Trail. The against argument in this circumstance I guess is that people had willingly booked those cheaper tours and not all will have been distressed by the treatment of the porters or the lack of eco-responsibility.
Hope that's of some help. Good luck.
Travel Guide -- Madrid, Spain
essential travel guide
essential travel guide
essential travel guide
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