Corporate Social Responsibility Management in tourism business: The impact of TUI Group and Intrepid Group on low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

Tourism can be an enormous opportunity for low- and middle- income countries with limited alternatives for development. However, it also bears several risks for the economy, environment and culture of a country. Therefore, the necessity for sustainable tourism development in low- and middle- income countries becomes inevitable to guarantee positive social impact for all stakeholders.

Instead of focusing on governmental measures for more sustainable tourism, this thesis addresses Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In doing so, the author compares two major international tour operators, TUI Group and Intrepid Group, their CSR approach and execution, assessing the implementation and lastly the effectiveness.

While the Intrepid Group built its business idea around CSR, TUI Group took increasingly more efforts in creating more sustainable tourism products over the past few years. Both corporations are taking a pioneering role in the sector by taking various steps to mitigate the negative social impact. Nevertheless, there still is a lot of potential for improvements.