Corporate Sustainability Practices in Tourism-Evidence from Tanzania

The purpose of this study is to explore the corporate sustainability practices undertaken in the tourism sector, drawing on evidence from Tanzania. The study extracted corporate sustainability-related information reported on the websites of tour operators and accommodation firms operating in Tanzania and conducted thematic analysis on the extracted information. The findings revealed that social services, economic prosperity, nature conservation and eco-efficiency are the main corporate sustainability practices. The tour operators generally put great emphasis on social service initiatives, which were operationalized through philanthropic contributions to community projects. Accommodation firms specifically emphasized eco-efficiency, nature conservation and economic prosperity. Although the conception of corporate sustainability of all the tourism firms seems to be the same, their practices were differentiated by differences in their nature of operations and resource capabilities. The findings imply that corporate sustainability practices are socially constructed and provide grounds to inform destination planning, development and management.