MARKETING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
5.6 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
Figure 2 reflects Hilton’s belief that the environment performance of a firm could only be improved when all initiatives are employee driven. This approach has also been recommended by Post and Altman (1994). It clearly reiterates that the success of Sustainable Marketing Management required strong support from the Participants in the Value Chain.
Andrew Forte, Director-Energy Management and Sustainability at the Hil- ton, shared with the media that (Bohdanowicz et. Al, 2011).
“In a nutshell, we care! delegates responsibility to team members who can really identify improvements and then implement them. Our aim was to create a culture in which all our team members feel empowered to propose improve- ments and then have the opportunity to actually change their actions. The re- sults show that we are beginning to make a difference but this is just the start.”
Positive change augmented by the We Care! program in the first three years.
• Hilton Europe reduced the consumption of energy in its hotels by 6.7%, in the first year of the program. This exceeded the target of 5%, which the hotel had set for itself.
• The hotel saved more than USD 3 million as energy costs.
• Hilton hotels in Europe, reduced the water consumption by 8% per guest night.
• Energy consumption was reduced by 15%.
• CO2 emissions were reduced by 8% per guest night, which translated into 28,600 tons CO2 which was prevented from being released.
• Hotel group saved USD 16 million in its water and energy bills.
• Employees were self-driven in organizing green activities such as
“Clean up the world” or “Earth Hour.”
• The Hotel attributes savings of USD 9.6 million, to the changed human behavior.
Illustrative Case 6: Exodus and Its Responsible Tourism Policy
Due to the intangible and unapparent (in the short run) benefits of sustain- ability in tourism, it is imperative that hospitality marketers work on creating physical evidences. Cues that act as evidences remind the consumer about the value proposition, remind as well as motivate the other stakeholders about the objectives of the organization or project and these might also help the con- sumers in assessing the quality of the product/service, while engaging in the purchase decision (Blythe, 2006).
As discussed in Figure 1, physical evidence as a part of the STMM, in- cludes the incorporation of a policy or framework, which consistently reiter- ates the sustainability values. Hilton (Illustrative Case 5) is an example of the way organizations create evidences like the Hilton’s Green Box or the ITP Guidelines, to emphasize on sustainable tourism practices.
Exodus, an adventure tour operator from UK developed physical evidence in the form of a ‘Responsible Tourism Policy.’ The policy consists of a Mis- sion Statement, describing company’s commitment towards sustainable tour- ism and a “ Code of Practices,” which details the management practices that would help in the policy’s implementation.
5.6.1 THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE POLICY
“Exodus operates tourism that fosters understanding, appreciation and con- servation of the culture and environments we visit. We operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. We are committed to working with our clients and the people of our host destinations to ensure direct economic benefits at a community level, and to contribute to cultural and environmental conservation. With the continual monitoring of our operations, we aim to op- erate beyond best practice guidelines, endeavoring to set world-wide industry benchmarks for responsible tourism operations” (Tour Operators’ Initiative, 2003) D.
The policy is aimed at the employees, travel partners, local communities as well as the customers. Exodus took varied measures, described in Table 2, to ensure that the practices and principles of responsible tourism are promoted among the mentioned stakeholder communities.
TABLE 2 Exodus’ tourism policy and physical evidences.
Physical Evidence Description
Code of Practice Various management practices are described. The aim is to emphasize the importance of operations, which are economically, culturally and environmentally friendly.
Responsible Tourism Man-
ager A manager who is an expert in tourism as well as conser- vation. The aim of the position is to signal to all stake- holders of Exodus that sustainability is integral to the company’s business.
Responsible Tourism Semi-
nars Exodus organizes multiple two-day seminars for its staff in entire UK. Employees from marketing, operations, sales and finance functions identify areas of improvement for the policy and also brainstorm over excelling in the implementation of sustainable practices. Feedback from the seminars is used to improve the “Code of Practice.”
Training in the policy New staff members are trained on the “Responsible Tour- ism Policy”
Intranet Updates Regular Intranet updates about the policy and code of practices, acts as a motivational tool for everyone to move towards the fulfillment of a common goal (of ensuring sustainability).
Weekly Reporting All departments organize weekly reporting meetings, which are attended by the Responsible Tourism Manager.
Meetings monitor and update all about the implementa- tion of the policy; new initiatives undertaken and feed- back to improve the existing program.
Benefits for Local Commu-
nities Exodus hires local guides, thereby supporting local com- munities. Largely purchases are made of local services and products and local operators are also roped in to im- plement the policy.
Limiting Group Sizes Group size, for all tours, is limited to a maximum of 22 people. This ensures that local destinations are not over burdened by tourist footfall and their ecological balance remains maintained.
Tour Leaders Tour leaders receive training on the policy and they high- light to the customers (tourists), local issues and ensure the adaptation sustainable practices by the customers.
Company Literature Reference to the policy is included in all of the company’s literature like trip notes, “pre-departure information pack- ets,” brochures, website and feedback forms. This pro- motes the policy among consumers and motivates them towards prudent behavior.
Besides the mentioned physical evidences, Exodus also undertook “recy- cling and energy management programs” at its Head-Office, thereby ensuring that no employee or customer touch-point remains oblivious of the Respon- sible Tourism Policy.