Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism Dong’ao Island Case

Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism

Dong’ao Island Case

Course Code: HTM 582 Research Methods

Lecturer: Dr. Dan Wang

Group Members:

Sean Xiao 13117714G

Sasha Sheng 13105254G

Evelyn Ye 13093162G

Vivian Ding 13097237G

Jonathan Wang 13095096G

Yvonne Liu 13105132G

1. Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that has attracted worldwide attention especially in tourism industry in recent decades. Although there are different definitions, CSR can be understood as the voluntary contribution by companies to improving the environment, society and economy, either for altruistic reasons or to improve their competitive advantage (Tamajón, L. G, 2013).

In most developing countries and areas, tourism is seen as a promising option for economic growth while recent unsustainable tourism practices such as excessive development and resources waste can impact the health of the environment, community and tourism itself as well (Luu, T. T, 2011). However, few countries are using economic, regulatory or institutional policy instruments for tourism management (Logar, 2010). In this case, CSR standards and practices highly depend on the awareness of company and are developed by the private sector that intensified mainly on island tourism. There are many successful cases such as Maldives and Hawaii while having contrasting cases in some parts of Mainland China. In this context, the spotlight is increasingly turning to focus on the role of CSR practices in island tourism development.

For the purpose of assessing business performance in island tourism, the “Ling Ding Seashore” project launched by Gree in Dong’ao Island is used as the case study in this paper. By considering the economic, social and environmental dimensions of Dong’ao Island case, the paper aims to explore the issue of corporate social responsibility in the context of island tourism and provide some practical implications for future study.

The rest of the paper...