conception in making tourism and a new vision of environmental and ethical sustainability.
Sustainable tourism with the passage of time is attracting more and more people, because it looks to the future and guarantees through certain sustainable choices not only lasting economic
development but also protection of the territory.
Speaking instead of sustainable labels, it emerged how similar but at the same time different these are, that they are not so easy to obtain, and above all the visibility and advantages that these labels bring to the accommodation facilities and consequently to the country where the facility is located.
In fact, it is enough to observe the graphs in the EMAS and EU Ecolabel sub-sections, which show how from year to year more and more facilities or products or services acquire this type of
certification.
Thanks to the opportunity I had to interview Mr. Ciro Verrocchi, I was able to see how much a simple 'green' action, such as switching off the lights in common areas, benefits both the structure and the environment, and how sustainable actions change, depending on their policy, from structure to structure. But unfortunately, the fact also stands out, that green action for richer hotel chains is easier to implement than perhaps a lower category hotel.
I could summarize the information acquired during the writing of this work, those collected during the interview with Mr. Verrocchi, and the hopes of hoteliers and customers in the famous phrase of Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary of the United Nations and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001:
"Our greatest challenge in this new century is to adopt an idea that seems abstract – sustainable development-. "
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Summary
The choice to cover this topic in my thesis stems from a personal interest that has grown year after year. In fact, having had the opportunity to travel since childhood and having always been involved in the world of hotels and tourist services in a more general sense, I felt the need and the desire to go more in-depth on the subject in question.
The Tourism Management course I took this year only confirmed this interest and finally convinced me to start writing this work.
Even more so after the distressing Covid-19 pandemic that we have all personally experienced, it seemed to me that the topic of sustainability in the world of tourism is a very topical one and one that needed to be explored in greater depth since it is a subject that is very often treated lightly and superficially.
While this change in outlook affects consumers, it obviously also affects tourism service providers, who need to be up to date with changes in legislation and regulations; ecolabels fit into this
discourse.
The eco-labels are part of this discourse. In fact, along with the awareness of consumers/travelers, the awareness of receptive structures is also growing: in order to be attractive in an increasingly eco-driven market, they must comply with the highest standards of eco-sustainability, which guarantee that the product has been previously studied and analyzed from the point of view of its environmental impact, within its entire life cycle, and from the point of view of social sustainability, which takes into account any consequences on the health and safety of the consumer.
The investment by hospitality facilities and brands has been huge in recent years, but this only underlines that the path towards which we are heading is definitely the right one, towards a more sustainable and important development for future generations to enjoy.
Interest in sustainability and sustainable development has experienced an unprecedented increase in recent decades. Encapsulated in the concept of sustainable development, generally defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987), there are numerous areas of study, interest, and action. In fact, the pursuit of a sustainable development model, desired by international institutions and civil society in a large part of the world, sees three fundamental aspects of human progress intersect: the economic, social welfare, and environmental protection aspects.
The corporate world is fully involved in all three aspects, and business management is required to make its own contribution, both in the concreteness of business practices and in the study of the phenomenon that is rapidly and continuously evolving by scholars on the subject. The stimuli for more sustainability-oriented business management, no longer only economic (inherent to the very existence of the company), but also environmental and social, come from many quarters.
Environmental protection legislation is becoming increasingly stringent and public attention to the issue has grown over the years. Companies are being given responsibilities that go far beyond the traditional satisfaction of shareholders, and it is now widely accepted that they must contribute to the well-being of the societies in which they operate. The most current and successful trend, however, seems to favor sporadic initiatives separate from the core business, a real shift in corporate focus. The strength of the orientation towards sustainability is reflected in a general overhaul of production and management processes, with a view to saving energy, rationalizing the use of materials, or reducing waste, etc. These initiatives are seen as a source of added value for the company. These initiatives are seen as a source of competitive advantage (Porter & van der Linde, 1995; Porter & Kramer, 2006) because of the reduction in the cost of operations resulting from the investment. Initiatives that companies can take to demonstrate their commitment to environmental sustainability include ecolabels.
These are environmental quality certifications that aim to provide consumers with clear and reliable information, precisely because they are certified, on the environmental impact of the products that display them (Gallastegui, 2002)
More specifically, this thesis aims to analyze the issue of sustainability, with particular attention to sustainable tourism and the various certifications that accommodation facilities can receive,
following different sustainable criteria, which are voluntary and mandatory. In addition, this paper will explore the existence or otherwise of discrepancies between the theoretical framework dictated by eco-labeling practices and the actions undertaken daily by the main players in the world of tourism.
This paper will be divided into three different chapters:
FIRST CHAPTER: The first chapter deals with sustainable tourism. In fact, after an introductory paragraph devoted to presenting the broader concept of sustainability, the chapter will focus mainly on sustainable tourism, defined by the UN as "tourism that meets the needs of today's tourists and host regions while foreseeing and enhancing opportunities for the future". This type of tourism will be examined from its creation to its scale.
SECOND CHAPTER: In the second chapter several themes will be addressed; in fact, we will analyze the issue of corporate environmental management, and certified sustainable brands, with a careful analysis of the sustainable and ecological labels that accommodation facilities can receive following various criteria. The labels mentioned in this chapter are EU Ecolabel; Luxury Eco Certification Standard; Eco Bio Tourism ICEA; Legambiente Turismo.
THIRD CHAPTER: The last chapter will focus on a case study centered on an interview with Ciro Verrocchi, General Manager of Palazzo Fiuggi, a hotel belonging to the Forte Village group, and Manager of the Year in 2016, who will talk to us about sustainability in the hospitality sector, particularly in luxury hospitality. With him, I will also try to deepen what have been the
consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism sector and more specifically on sustainable tourism practices.
In order to try to tackle this topic in the best possible way, I thought it would be appropriate to design my work in such a way as to have both a theoretical part and to shed light on current
practices in terms of sustainable labelling. This theoretical framework will help me to get an idea of what are the best practices in the tourism sector also in the light of the growing commitment of the European Union towards sustainability (SDGs). However, having an empirical point of view is useful to understand if and how theory is applied in the real world; for this reason, taking advantage of the presence of Ciro Verrocchi, an influential and experienced personality in the world of luxury tourism in Italy, I will deepen certain aspects by trying to understand the perspective of a hotel General Manager and the choices he has to make on a daily basis to comply with other quality standards. The combination of these two approaches could be effective and could, albeit to a limited extent, open my eyes to a subject that has always been much discussed and controversial.
The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive overview of sustainability and sustainable tourism, taking a close look at some of the most important sustainable labels applicable to accommodation facilities.
The issues of environmental sustainability and corporate responsibilities towards a sustainable development model have become increasingly central to the public discourse and interests of a multiplicity of actors.
With regard to environmental sustainability in particular, there is a growing conviction that the collective interest of environmental protection and the interests of business are not necessarily opposed to each other. More and more authors believe that by implementing innovations aimed at minimising environmental impact, e.g. by rationalising the use of natural resources, reducing waste or optimising the waste cycle, companies can achieve significant cost benefits (Porter & van der Linde, 1995; elkington, 1994; Porter & Kramer, 2006; Vogel, 2005 ;Berns et al, 2009; Hopkins, 2009).
From an intangible asset perspective, sustainability has also become increasingly important in recent decades, and both in the literature (Hilton, 2003; Wilmott, 2003; Werther & Chandler, 2005) and in managers' perceptions, there is agreement on the positive influence of corporate
sustainability policies and initiatives on image and brand.
In this respect the analysis of the reading revealed how the concept of sustainability is expanding year after year. Indeed, over the past two decades, the UN has sought to issue more and more decrees in favor of the environment. In addition, it emerged how important sustainability is not only for the environment, but also for businesses, and that sustainable tourism could be THE NEW WAY for all countries, including developing countries, to increasingly increase their social and obviously environmental economic development. If we think about all the Earth's non-renewable resources, a radical change is indispensable, because overexploitation of these resources will lead to their depletion.
This change must concern not only businesses or accommodation facilities but also all other sectors, in order to improve the quality of our daily lives.
From the point of view of the sustainable tourism sector, it emerged how this leads to a new conception in making tourism and a new vision of environmental and ethical sustainability.