Sustainable Tourism: Business Development, Operations and Management

Sustainable Tourism: Business Development, Operations, and Management lays out a road map to launching and building a business in one of today’s most exciting industries. It simplifies the process and outlines real-life requirements while clearing the path to new business success in the cultural, heritage, nature, and adventure fields. Written by an eco-development pioneer, the book offers guidance on developing and implementing a comprehensive sustainable-business plan. From analyzing the market all the way through hiring and training the right people, the text focuses on the principles of both tourism and business. It prepares those embarking on new careers to tackle the complexity of sustainability issues by thinking like entrepreneurs and acting like business owners. Students and professionals can rely on this text as both a start-up and ongoing implementation reference that will stack the odds of success in their favor.

Sustainable Tourism provides an overview of exciting developments in the sustainable-tourism industry. It helps new entrepreneurs assess the viability of ideas and products against sustainable criteria. Through sequential chapters, it delivers step-by-step instructions for minimizing environmental impact, establishing sustainability practices, obtaining financing, and marketing to and reaching customers. The standards-based text also examines how the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Sustainability Guidelines shape sustainable tourism, providing a global framework from which to build the skills needed for success.

Key features include the following:

• 13 online video case studies of sustainable tourism destinations from around the world give students a global text from which to build their own businesses and provide a model for how sustainable tourism works.

• An online workbook guides learners through the completion of a business plan by the end of the term.

• An online image bank presents photos, figures, and tables from the book that may be downloaded for use in presentations.

• Forms and worksheets from the book are available for download.

• A professional development workbook, “Creating a Tourism Career from Scratch” (appendix B), is a reference for entrepreneurs starting or advancing in their careers.

Loaded with case studies, the book illustrates what works and what doesn’t when starting a sustainable tourism business. It describes how to integrate sustainability practices into daily operations, maximize the use of the web and social media in marketing, and overcome challenges in sustainable tourism. The text covers every important topic in a business start-up, including financial forecasting and analysis, customer service systems, hiring, training, and managing turnover.

Sustainable Tourism: Business Development, Operations and Management is the starting point for all who want to develop an eco-friendly product, integrate sustainability principles into their businesses, and turn their dreams into a business reality.

Carol Patterson has been an author and consultant of tourism for over 20 years. She has helped numerous small business owners penetrate and advance into North American markets. She has been widely recognized for her pioneering work in tourism, winning awards for cinematography and sound design as well as her vision. Patterson is an adjunct assistant professor of adventure tourism classes at the University of Calgary. She is the author of several books, including The Business of Ecotourism, and co-author of Handle With Care: Developing a Nature Based Tourism Product in the North. She is also a Travel Media Association of Canada award recipient for the best environmental/responsible tourism feature. Her travel writing has appeared on BBC Travel and Vacay.ca among other publications.