Why is CSR necessary

Global tourism still often leads to social discrimination and the destruction of the environment. The situation of women in the tourist industry, for instance, illustrates how limited the impact of the mentioned and not mentioned CSR approaches actually is. According to recent ILO estimates approximately 70% of all employees in the tourist industry are women. Those involved in the tourist industry frequently emphasize the opportunities offered by tourism to women in particular. This sector, however, also is no exception: on average, women worldwide earn 20-30% less than their male colleagues working in the same position. Moreover, in all areas of personal services women are exposed to sexual harassment. In many cases, prostitution seems to offer a way to escape poverty, particularly as the sex industry is booming in the tourist centres of not only the developing countries but also the countries in transition.

Children are also affected by the development of the tourist industry both in a positive and a negative way. In regions frequented by tourists children often have to secure their livelihood at an early age and have to help feed their families: according to ILO estimates, thirteen to nineteen million children and young people under eighteen are working in the tourist industry. This means that child labour accounts for at least 10% of the official labour market in tourism, and recent trends suggest a further increase of that number. If we include the informal labour market, the number of children and young people working in the tourist industry will probably be much higher. A study by the "Arbeitskreis Tourismus & Entwicklung" (working group tourism & development) (Basle, Switzerland) shows that girls and boys of all ages work in the tourist industry in a broad range of working conditions, not only in developing, but also in industrialized countries. It is true that not all young people working in tourism are exploited. Millions of children and young people, however, are prevented from going to school by their jobs in the tourist industry. Often they have to do hard and dangerous work for small or no wages, and they frequently are denied any form of vocational training. The working conditions of many children and young people in the tourist industry rank among the worst types of child labour that have top priority in the fight against this scourge according to the new ILO convention for the protection of children (Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, N° 182).

One of the most abhorrent types of the exploitation of children and young people is their commercial sexual exploitation. Conservative estimates by UNICEF indicate that worldwide one million children and young people are newly subjected to this type of exploitation every year. Illegal activities involving children are thriving in many countries. Criminal organizations make billions through child prostitution, child pornography and child trafficking. The tourist infrastructure is deliberately used for these crimes; travellers abuse children at popular destinations taking advantage of cheap flight and holiday offers. The initiative to establish codes of conduct mentioned above, launched by ECPAT and international tour operators, is a good example of successful cooperation, although it will still take a long time to win the fight against sex tourism.

The working conditions of those working in the tourist industry are also affected by recent developments. In the course of market deregulation and after the conclusion of the service agreements (GATS) within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO-OMC) in 1994, private tour operators were given extensive rights without imposing the corresponding obligations on them. It is true that in the last few years hotels, carriers, and tour operators have increasingly signed so-called »voluntary initiatives«, which state that they are striving for a more ecologically friendly way of doing business.

This is important, in particular in the case of transnational enterprises, which can more easily evade national rules and regulations. Voluntary commitments of the private sector, however, mainly fail to include the social dimension of sustainability. Delegates at the ILO conference on the effects of globalization on employment in the tourist industry in April 2001, for instance, complained that in various countries working conditions in privatized hotels, often taken over by international hotel chains, had clearly deteriorated, and employees still were not allowed to establish trade unions or similar organizations.

The incomplete list of existing approaches shows that a large number of initiatives have already been launched by the state, civil society, or private enterprises, but that these frequently have not had the desired effect. One reason is the lack of agreement among European and international players on how to implement them. Often guidelines are drawn up without consultations and dialogue. There are no binding and generally accepted CSR guidelines for the tourist industry, and equally there are no binding supervisory mechanisms. A look at other industries that have a track record not only in developing CSR guidelines but also in firmly entrenching them can help to overcome this problem. In addition, the norms for entrepreneurs adopted by the UN Human Rights Commission in August 2003 might also be considered.