THE COMPLEX NATURE OF ETHICS IN TOURISM

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THE COMPLEX NATURE OF ETHICS IN TOURISM

Journal Title: Folia Turistica - Year 2018, Vol 49, Issue

Abstract

Purpose. The paper aims to review the interface between the realm of ethics and tourism activities with regard to the motivations, attitudes, behavior and deeds of stakeholders in tourism. These are understood to include tourists as consumers, as well as the suppliers, whether active or passive, responding to their needs, be it entrepreneurs, public authorities, host communities or the natural environment as a passive subject. Tourism is understood as a specific area of consumption and production by being external to permanent residence of the consumer, where conflicts of ethical nature often occur either between the stakeholders and the concerned cohorts or within such cohorts. It will be noted that the essence of ethical behavior, here understood as not causing harm and doing good, may be similar or identical to that of other notions and values to which the stakeholders in tourism often aspire, such as human and worker rights, responsibility, fairness or quality. These are reviewed against a selection of relevant international systems, instruments, treaties and conventions, beginning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as voluntary instruments adopted by civil society organisations and professional groups in the private sector, which may serve as regulatory or not legally binding support for ethical conduct in tourism activities. Method. Desk research of literature by relevant authors, religious sources and printed media as well as international instruments and professional codes of ethics concerned with tourism consumption and production. Findings. A great number of ethical issues regarding tourism with reference to consumer and supplier behavior has, for a considerable time, been covered by normative instruments and professional codes. When considering their fragmentary nature, as each item may address a specific aspect of tourism on the demand and supply sides, and not its entirety, the World Tourism Organization found it feasible to enact a general code of ethics for tourism to deal with all these aspects in a single document. Research and conclusions limitations. This work is an analytical and descriptive essay, not of empirical nature. Practical implications. Prompted by the review of ethical issues inherent to tourism, the essay purports the adoption of a new, overall and realistic coverage or definition of the tourism phenomenon with respect to demand and supply and its impact on the social and natural environment. It also invites critical review of the similarities and differences between consumer and producer behavior in the field of tourism and other fields of human activity. Originality. The work inadvertently challenges the well-engrained method and tendency of considering the issues of tourism – which, in essence, can be brought down to consumption and reciprocal production external to the adobe of being - as if being largely distinct from the social and economic contexts of which it actually forms an inseparable part. Type of paper. The paper adduces the philosophical, sociological, economic and legal considerations against the background of practice in the field of tourism.

Authors and Affiliations

Henryk Handszuh

Keywords

ethics ethical norms social responsibility work ethics competition sustainable development sustainable consumption and production governance quality responsible tourism consumer protection Universal Declaration of Human Rights international conventions

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EP ID EP518610
DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0013.0813
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