ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: THE TOUR OPERATOR’S PERCEPTIONS

Abstract

This paper discuss about the main issue of the environment and the initiatives taken by the tour operators in the conservation, minimization of the environmental degradation, as an undeniable fact the tourism industry is one of the major contributor of pollution. The comparative approach has been adapted from the sustainability tourism handbook by the European tourism commission is followed in the paper, different perceptions and approach taken by the tour operators towards the environmental sustainability are compared and presented. And much has already been written on the direct, physical impacts of tourism on ecosystems and host communities (Matthieson and Wall, 1982; Jenner and Smith, 1992; Price, 1995). Yet so far, only a few researchers have attempted to explore ways in which industry may be involved creatively in regulation (Poon, 1993; Goodall, 1995; Eaton, 1996), which insists on the assessment of the role of the tour operators in the environmental sustainability.