ZERO AND MINIMAL COST ACTIONS TOURISM BUSINESSES CAN TAKE TO INCREASE POSITIVE IMPACT AND THEIR BOTTOM LINE In their work as a positive impact consultant, one of the authors of this article, Nic Cooper, has found that many actions are easy for businesses to implement and require little time or financial investment. As he often says to business owners and managers:“ Why wouldn’ t you do this in your business?”
The following examples illustrate low-cost actions tourism businesses can take to engage guests, reduce costs, and support their communities.
ACTIONS TO ENGAGE GUESTS At booking
• Add a tick box to the booking system where guests can add a small donation to local environmental and social causes. For example, when guests book a tour with WAM, they can tick a box to donate $ 5 to projects selected by WAM that support their tours’ host communities.
In pre-arrival communications
• Provide easy-to-follow directions on how to arrive by public transport.
• Educate guests about ways they can reduce their negative impact or increase their positive impact. For example, guests of Kestrel Nest EcoHut
HOW DESTINATION MANAGERS CAN IMPROVE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS FROM TOURISM
An analysis of 78 studies on drivers for small tourism businesses to reduce their emissions 10 found that destination managers can influence change in the following ways:
> Create a sustainability team to guide, coach, and support local businesses. > Provide hands-on guidance to help tourism businesses understand what they can do, and to take the first steps. > Provide ideas for simple‘ first-step’ actions that are easy to implement( see above). > Leverage the achievement of initial small wins to build momentum to tackle larger changes. > Make it easier to access funding. > Reduce red tape, such as by providing an accepted development 11 approval pathway for low-impact tourism experiences, including guided nature or cultural tours( walking, cycling or paddling), farm produce tastings, workshops, pop-up events, and e-bike hire.
> Encourage cooperation between tourism businesses, residents, and local governments to set shared climate goals.
> Reward sustainable practices through marketing and recognition.
can buy the farm’ s ecologically farmed produce( farmed in a way that supports nature), or offset their holiday’ s transport emissions by purchasing native tree seedlings which will be planted in a local Landcare project.
During guests’ visits
• Make sustainable choices the default behaviour, such as by serving vegetarian food and incorporating cultural and nature interpretation which builds appreciation and care.
• Recommend locally-owned cafés, galleries, shops, and events.
• Arrange for earnings from depositrefund containers to be donated to a local cause, and encourage guests to recycle their drink bottles to benefit the charity’ s mission.
• Generate income whilst supporting ethical businesses by selling their products to your guests. For example, if you use ethical toiletries in your accommodations and toilets, offer them for sale to your guests.
ACTIONS TO SAVE MONEY
• Preset the temperatures for room heating and cooling.
• Reduce water usage by creating a fourminute shower playlist( featuring local artists) which guests can access via a QR code in the bathroom.
• Replace single-use items with reusable or home-compostable options, such as toiletries, water bottles, and food packaging.
Destination managers can also incentivise change. For example, they could make businesses eligible for mentoring or grant funding if they demonstrate sustainability improvements or are working towards improved sustainability, such as by applying for accreditation. Where relevant, incentives should include clear targets, such as achieving certification within a year.
One Australian state tourism organisation will soon be providing free accreditation to businesses, but delivered as a free reimbursement once the certification program is completed. This will incentivise businesses to complete the accreditation. Comparatively, simply ' free ' programs can tend to inspire registrations but with low completion rates.
ABOVE: Forest Byron Bay’ s menu enables guests to make ethical choices when ordering meals.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 19 NO 1 2026 09