Business Ethics Issue: Unsustainable Behaviors in Tourism by

Introduction

yuningzhang20040321 — 2024-10-17 13:27:36 UTC

In today's business environment, ethics plays a crucial role as it guides the behavior and decisions of businesses. According to Gomez Lopez and Barron Arreola (2024), “in the long term, the variables of tourism are related to the environmental variables considered” (p. 598). Additionally, Eng et al. (2024) illustrates that “almost any company can have a substantial carbon footprint through energy use and the manufacture and transportation of raw materials and finished goods” (p. 74). Since businesses can exert a significant influence on the environment, they are obliged to take ethical factors into account and refrain from expanding without limit. This padlet cites a journal article titled "Tourist behaviour change for sustainable consumption (SDG Goal 12): Tourism Agenda 2030 perspective", which was written by Dolnicar (2023). It focuses on the tourism industry, specifically addressing the business ethics issue of resource waste behaviors. In the analysis, the UN SDG 8 will be involved, which emphasizes inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work. By examining these elements, the article aims to understand the implications of such ethical issues on the tourism industry and its alignment with UN SDG 8.

Journal

yuningzhang20040321 — 2024-10-17 13:28:34 UTC

The journal article identifies several environmentally unfriendly behaviors of hotels. These behaviors go against the orientation of sustainable economic growth goals, raising concerns about ethical issues and environmental problems in the tourism industry. One of these misbehaviors is unsustainable use of natural resources, such as unnecessary hotel cleaning and replacement of towels in hotels. According to a survey carried out by Dolnicar (2023), “Every room clean in a four-star hotel uses some 35 L of water, 1.5 kWh of electricity and 100 mL of chemicals for cleaning” (p. 328). Such a large-scale consumption will lead to the exhaustion of resources in the long term, which means hotels cannot eventually rely on natural resources for operation and making profits. The second misbehavior is increased food waste. Usually, in order to deliver the best service and satisfy customers, hotels provide big size plates, unlimited self-serving food and large and untransparent food waste bins. However, such facilities will lead to mindless wasteful behaviors. The third misbehavior is large waste generation. Unfortunately, “waste reduction has received surprisingly little attention in tourism” (Dolnicar, 2023, p. 329). Such neglection can cause passive influence in controlling environmental cost. Overall, considering ethical issues is significant for business activities, as it highlights the role of the industry in optimizing environment and benefiting human. By solving this issue, the industry can meet the expectations of stakeholders who are increasingly concerned about sustainability and make natural resources sustainable. In this way, tourism can have continuous economic growth and ensure full employment, which is the purpose of UN SDG 8.

Theory

yuningzhang20040321 — 2024-10-17 13:28:57 UTC

Utilitarianism, as an ethical theory, holds that “we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions” (Shaw & Barry, 2016, p. 67). In the tourism industry, although some wasteful practices may bring short-term benefits to hotels, they destroy the greatest happiness for all in the long run. If these behaviors cause depletion of resources and damage of environments, no tourist will come. This can lead to termination of economic development and loss of workability in local tourism. On the other hand, according to Kant’s categorical imperative theory, “we should always act in such a way that we can will the maxim of our action to be a universal law” (Shaw & Barry, 2016, p. 60). However, the misbehaviors of hotels clearly violate universal law. For instance, excessive cleaning and frequent replacement of towels are not universal laws, because they are abusing resources and not considering the interests of other possible users. It will result in the exhaustion of resources and damage future sustainable development. In addition, Kant holds that people should “[a]ct in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end” (Shaw & Barry, 2016, p. 320). This theory emphasizes that the motivation of moral behavior should be based on respect for duty, not on personal interests or desires. However, by providing large-sized plates, unlimited self-service food and large and opaque trash cans, hotels think this can better cater to customers’ needs. In this way, hotels regard customers as a means to meet their own interests without respecting customers’ rationality and considering the impact of wasting on the environment.

SDG

yuningzhang20040321 — 2024-10-17 13:29:25 UTC

UN SDG 8 focuses on inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work. It has multiple targets to address economic challenges, such as sustain GDP growth, improve productivity, promote development-oriented policies, improve resource efficiency, achieve full employment and decent work, improve youth employment, protect labor rights, make sustainable tourism etc. (United Nations, n.d.). The moral issues of hotel waste in the tourism industry have significant negative impacts on the actual implementation of UN SDG 8 in terms of sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work. In terms of economic growth, the inefficient use of resources such as excessive cleaning and food waste will contribute to increased costs for hotels, which will then be passed to consumers in the form of higher prices, reducing the competitiveness of the tourism industry. In terms of employment and decent work, the wasteful behavior of hotels will cause irreversible damage to the environment. Once resources are exhausted, tourism will not be prosperous, leading to unemployment or worse working conditions. In summary, the moral issues of hotel waste in the tourism industry are immediate and important factors affecting SDG 8.

Conclusion

yuningzhang20040321 — 2024-10-17 13:31:19 UTC

In conclusion, the padlet explores resource waste in tourism, a significant business ethics issue. It identified hotel unsustainable behaviors that conflict with UN SDG 8, which aims to build continuable economic growth and a decent work environment. Ethical theories such as utilitarianism and Kant’s categorical imperative theory are applied to deal with these ethical issues. Additional issues in the Abaco Cays further describe serious challenges in reaching SDG 8. As is known to all, addressing these ethics issues and promoting sustainability is vital for achieving SDG 8, ensuring economic growth, employment, and social stability.

References

yuningzhang20040321 — 2024-10-17 13:31:33 UTC