[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Implications for tourism of eroded environments and threat to business interests
Company Name : Touristik Union International (TUI)
Company Address :
City :
Country : Germany
By Tourism Marketing and Management by Dr. G. P. Raju
Based in Germany, TUI is the largest tour operating company in Europe with business activities extending to
hotel chains, incoming agencies, and foreign tour operators
in which it has a significant ownership stake. Its traditional
business has lain with marketing package tours to clients
from north Europe looking for holidays in the sun in the
Mediterranean but, while the bulk of its volume still lies
in that region, its scope now extends virtually world-wide. In the late 1990s TUI carried some 5 million visitors
to 145 destinations in more than sixty different countries.
As a major private-sector player in a country which
is in the forefront of the environmental movement with
a well-established Green political party, TUI were well
aware by the late 1980s of the implications for tourism of
eroded environments and the threat to their business interests.
In 1990 a senior management appointment was made to
.spearhead the company's environmental responses, reporting
directly to the Executive Board.
Detailed knowledge of German consumer's interests
and expectations in environmental matters underlies the
operator's responses, and they have access to comprehensive
information on market trends. Bearing in mind that Germany
is now an affluent mature market with many very experienced
international travelers, the data included of this book showing
how environmental expectations increases with frequency
of travel are especially relevant to this case.
Partnerships involved
Stating that 'any scope for cooperation should be
exploited to the full, and recognizing the need to work
with local authorities as well as with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) at its destinations, TUI identify
productive partnerships with there own subsidiary and
part-subsidiary companies, with the Environment and culture
Committee established by the German Travel Agents association
(DRV) and with the International Federation of Tour Operators
(IFO). Utilizing its environmental database TUI has also
established an international Environment Network (TEN)
collating information flows derived from its subsidiaries
and contracted hotels for all the countries with which it
deals, from Antigua to Zimbabwe. TEN is the quantitative
and qualitative expression for the people, institutions,
organizations-internal and external-cooperating in terms
of reporting and working practically on the process of
reducing environmental impacts worldwide.
Rationale for a sustainable strategy
TVI Ask their own question: 'How can even a large
tour operator justify expenditure of millions of D-marks
on environmental activities? There season is obvious; holiday
regions and resort hotels cannot remain successful in the
long term without clean beaches, clean water, and unspoiled
landscape ... Changing values and customer expectations
show that ,traditional ideas of what constitutes [product]
quality are outdated Environemtnal compatibility, orto be
more precise, minimum pollution is very high on the list
of holiday essentials. Tour operators wishing to survive
need to offer unspoiled landscape and nature.'
TVI make it perfectly clear that they are in business
to make a targeted return on investment and that an
environmental efforts and investment must be subjected to
the kind of cost benefit analysis that is 'an essential element
in today's corporate development.'
Environmental Programme
TUI environmental criteria for destinations
Obviously reflecting customer demands and expectations,
the operator uses ten criteria for formally evaluating the
quality of the environment at destinations. It includes
waste-watermanagement, landscape and nature; air quality
and levels of noise; garbage-disposal practices; fresh water
supplies; sea and shoreline; the nature of environmental
activities (statutory and proactive) undertaken at the destination; and the quality of 'surroundings', or the overall
ambience provided by are sort. The implications that the
operator will not contract with destinations that do not
match their criteria developed ion a comparative/competitive
basis are ominous for destinations that allow their environment
to deteriorate.
Over the years, dealing with dozens of 'competing
destinations, the company has built its information flows
into a database referred to earlier as the TVI Environmental
Information System. This database, even for just one large
international tour operator, is a potential goldmine for
evaluating and communicating good practice. For new
resort~ under consideration for investment by TVI, their
" project managers are drawing up formal environmental
impact statements (EIS), recognizing that cfny major project
is increasingly likely to undergo an environmental impact
assessment (EIA) before it gains permission.
TUI critejia for hotels and other accommodation
Again reflecting its customers' demands and expectations,
TVI operate an eight-point assessment for evaluating the
environmental credentials of the accommodation suppliers
with which it deals. The detailed criteria are explained and
presented to hoteliers as checklists which are analysed by
the Group's database. Seminars are conducted to explain
the process. The checklist includes operational issues such
as waste-water treatment; waste-disposal practices; energy-and water-saving measures; noise levels in the hotel; and
broacher 'environmental ambience' factors such as
architetecture and building materials of the hotel; location
and immediate surroundings of the hotel grounds.
Interestingly, TVI add 'other aspects of the hotel either
causing concern or being particularly environment-friendly.'
Head office operations
Although of lesser immediate impact on sustainable tourism, TVI has nevertheless audited its head office operations
and by changing the paper used for brochure production,
for example, was able to reduce the environmental impact
on the water used in the process by 90 percent. It operates
the normal systems for controlling energy use, waste
separation and recycling, re-use, etc.
Influencing the behaviour of tourists on holiday
TVI recognize the need to influence the behaviour of
its customers at the destinationusing carefully prepared
information designed to stimulate interest in sustainable
issues and the options open to visitors on holiday. They
are also clearly aware that this is not an easy process.
'Persuading headonistic citizens of the leisure era to save
water and energy and to avoid discarding litter is by no
means impossible."
More than 600 TVI broachers are distributed by the
German package tours market every year and a complex
system of different ways and means provides guest information
after arrival in the hotels. Large, independent, so-called
'mass tour operators' have been heavily criticized for their
failure to act in support of the environment, especially at
destinations. This case, with its important stress on precise
environmental criteria developed and applied by a commercial
operator in determining with which destinations and with
which accommodation suppliers it will work, provides a
striking indication of post-1990 corporate thinking which
we consider to be a clear indication of the direction of
market trends. It is especially relevant that the operator's
business is based in one of Europe's most sophisticated and
demanding populations, but we judge it to be equally
relevant to the more affluent half at least of the other major
mature tourism markets in north Europe.
A key section of TVI's published corporate principles
in noted below. The protection of an intact environment is of the most importance to all of us. It helps us to safeguard our natural resources and ensures the future of
our enterprise. Each of our corporate divisions bears
responsibility for the environment. Each employee is called
upon to come up with helpful ideas, since environmental
protect in begins with each of us.
The environmental protection begins with each of us.
The environmental compatibility of our product is an integral
part of our standard of quality. This corporate principle
is part of the Group's Strategy 2001. It is applied to all
other group members in other tourism-generating countries,
such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.
TUI is thus using its strategic influence proactively as a
major purchaser to influence its suppliers and contractors
in environmentally sustainable ways.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]