Towards a Framework for Codes of Conduct in the Tourism Industry

Many scholars refer to tourism as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. With this, tourism contributes to both positive and negative impacts on social and environmental aspects. Tourism is linked with sustainability and to deal with this, Corporate Social Responsibility can be applied in the tourism industry. One of the tools to apply CSR within a company is through a code of conduct. Studies reveal a rise in codes of conduct, although the tourism industry is least developed compared to other industries. A comparison is made between codes of conduct from the tourism and textile industry. The textile industry is chosen for this comparison for its similarities, but more important, the existing differences between the two industries. Through the comparison of codes of conduct, findings are the different focuses on social and environmental issues by the tourism and textile industries. Furthermore, the geographical focus of the codes, inclusion of standards and conventions and the implementation of tourism and textile codes differ. Findings and conclusions are integrated in a framework, which lead to more effective and structured codes of conduct for the tourism industry.