ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS
SPOTLIGHT
ASEAN
Eco-Tourism
Balancing Between Business, Community and Environment BY MOHAMMAD HUSAIN MOHD DAWOED
With its abundance of natural and cultural resources, eco-tourism suits perfectly with Southeast Asia’ s tourism profile. In this issue, we visit three businesses in the region that have developed eco-tourism products with the aim of gaining some insights into the perennial question: How to strike a balance between business, community and environmental sustainability?
Eco-tourism or responsible travel which combines environmental conservation with sustaining the wellbeing of local communities and education is de rigueur of the global tourism industry. Indeed, with its abundance of natural and cultural resources, this form of tourism suits Southeast Asia’ s tourism character perfectly. This is confirmed by the World Economic Forum’ s Travel and Tourism Competitive Survey 2015 which lists nature and heritage as key competitive strength of the region’ s tourism industry.
It is important to note that the emergence of this eco-tourism trend is not only driven by the supply-side but also supported by demandend. The TripAdvisor Global Travel Economy Report( 2015) states that more than half of the consumers surveyed indicate eco-friendly and sustainable travel as factors impacting decision when considering to make accomodation bookings. In fact, ecofriendly factors are considered more favourable than the brand name of the accommodation, special offers and loyalty programmes.
Very broadly, eco-tourism is a desired competitive advantage that has potential to level the playing fields against more established brand names in the industry.
Of course, when it comes to eco-tourism, we must also look at its role of sustaining the well-being of local communities. Many ecotourism businesses make it a point to employ people from the surrounding areas in which they operate in. This is consistent with the long held view of the overall tourism industry being labour-intensive with low entry requirements. In this context, small businesses operating in a cottage environment can emerge as suppliers of products in the likes of handicraft( i. e. souvenirs), baskets, slippers or food items( i. e. local delicacies) for accommodation operators whether they are hotels or chalets. However, as the sector becomes more established and competitive, it becomes imperative for businesses to prioritise quality control of the level of their services from a skilled human resources perspective.
In this article, we visit three businesses in the region that had successfully developed eco-tourism products with the aim of gaining some insights into the eco-tourism perennial question: How to strike a balance between business, community and environmental sustainability?
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ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS | ISSUE 2: 2016